YouTube turns 10: its 10 most viewed videos

YouTube, headquartered in San Bruno, California, celebrated its 10th anniversary on February 14.

It was created by three former PayPal employees Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim. Its inspiration came because the three were searching online for videos on two 2004 incidents – Janet Jackson’s breast popping during a performance at the Super Bowl and the Indian Ocean tsunami – and couldn’t find much.

Sharing videos seemed the answer. The start-up was first situated above a pizzeria and Japanese restaurant in San Mateo, California. It was funded with a $11.5 million investment by Sequoia Capital. The three had no idea that within a year, their vision would be bought by Google for US$1.65 billion. It has 1 billion viewers globally and 300 hours of video are uploaded each minute.

Its 10 most viewed videos are:

"Gangnam Style" by Psy (2.2 billion views).

"Baby" by Justin Bieber (1.1 billion views).

"Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO (818.7 million views).

"Dark Horse" by Katy Perry (819.6 million views).

"Charlie Bit My Finger — Again!" by Harry and Charlie Davies-Carr (811 million views).

"Love the Way You Lie" by Eminem (811 million views).

"On The Floor" by Jennifer Lopez (809 million views).

"Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" by Shakira (806.6 million views).

"Roar" by Katy Perry (800.3 million views).

"Gentlemen" by Psy (796.5 million views).