The ones people know by name

The ones that got a name and kept it — what each one was, and where it came from.

The whole shelf

• The story The Trojan Room coffee pot 1991Early web, before YouTube
• The story Eternal September 1993Early web, before YouTube
• Look Dancing Baby 1996Early web, before YouTube
• The story GeoCities 1996Early web, before YouTube
• The story The GIF 1996Early web, before YouTube
• The story JenniCam 1996Early web, before YouTube
• The story Hampster Dance 1997Early web, before YouTube
• The story Newgrounds 2000Early web, before YouTube
• The story Hot or Not 2000Early web, before YouTube
• The story All Your Base Are Belong To Us 2001Early web, before YouTube
• The story Something Awful 2001Early web, before YouTube
• The story Xiao Xiao 2001Early web, before YouTube
• The story Badger Badger Badger 2003Early web, before YouTube
• Read The Streisand effect 2003Early web, before YouTube
• The story The Subservient Chicken 2004Early web, before YouTube
• Source gone Numa Numa 2004Early web, before YouTube
• Watch Leeroy Jenkins 2005Early YouTube
• Watch Me at the zoo 2005Early YouTube
• The story Here It Goes Again 2006Early YouTube
• The story Nico Nico Douga 2006Early YouTube
• Watch Evolution of Dance 2006Early YouTube
• Source gone Sneezing Baby Panda 2006Early YouTube
• Watch Keyboard Cat 2007Early YouTube
• Source gone Dramatic Chipmunk 2007Early YouTube
• Watch Battle at Kruger 2007Early YouTube
• The story Rickrolling 2007Early YouTube
• The story Lolcat 2007Early YouTube
• The story The hashtag 2007Early YouTube
• The story Hatsune Miku 2007Early YouTube
• The story The image macro 2007Early YouTube
• Watch Chocolate Rain 2007Early YouTube
• Watch Charlie bit my finger 2007Early YouTube
• Watch Dramatic Prairie Dog 2007Early YouTube
• Watch Leave Britney Alone 2007Early YouTube
• Look Trollface 2008Early YouTube
• Look Pepe the Frog 2008Early YouTube
• Watch David After Dentist 2009Early YouTube
• The story Susan Boyle I Dreamed a Dream 2009Early YouTube
• Look Slender Man 2009Early YouTube
• The story Black Twitter 2009Early YouTube
• Watch Double Rainbow 2010The social era
• Source gone Rebecca Black Friday 2011The social era
• Watch Why This Kolaveri Di 2011The social era
• The story Nyan Cat 2011The social era
• Look Grumpy Cat 2012The social era
• Watch Gangnam Style 2012The social era
• Watch Kony 2012 2012The social era
• Look Doge 2013The social era
• The story Harlem Shake 2013The social era
• Watch What Does the Fox Say 2013The social era
• Look This is fine 2013The social era
• Watch ALS Ice Bucket Challenge 2014The social era
• The story Eyebrows on fleek 2014The social era
• Look The Oscar selfie 2014The social era
• Look The Dress 2015The platform era
• Source gone Baby Shark Dance 2016The platform era
• The story Chewbacca Mask Lady 2016The platform era
• The story Mannequin Challenge 2016The platform era
• The story Pokémon Go 2016The platform era
• The story Boaty McBoatface 2016The platform era
• The story Dancing Pallbearers 2017The platform era
• The story r/place 2017The platform era
• The story Fyre Festival 2017The platform era
• Watch Despacito 2017The platform era
• The story The Tumblr adult content ban 2018The platform era
• The story OK boomer 2019The platform era
• Watch The Most Mysterious Song on the Internet 2019The platform era
• The story The Backrooms 2019The platform era
• The story Doggface208 Dreams video 2020Short-form and streams
• The story Karen 2020Short-form and streams
• The story Khaby Lame 2020Short-form and streams
• Watch Wellerman 2021Short-form and streams
• Watch Zoom Cat Lawyer 2021Short-form and streams
• The story Wordle 2021Short-form and streams
• The story The GameStop short squeeze 2021Short-form and streams
• The story Corn Kid 2022Short-form and streams
• The story Skibidi Toilet 2023Short-form and streams
• The story The Reddit blackout 2023Short-form and streams
• The story AI slop 2024Short-form and streams
• The story Kilroy was here 1939
• The story Wilhelm scream 1951
• The story Make.Money.Fast 1989
• Read Godwin's law 1994Early web, before YouTube
• The story Nokia tune 1994Early web, before YouTube
• The story The Spirit of Christmas 1995Early web, before YouTube
• The story Shipping 1996Early web, before YouTube
• The story Mahir Cagri 1999Early web, before YouTube
• The story Neopets 1999Early web, before YouTube
• The story Fark 1999Early web, before YouTube
• The story Rubber duck debugging 1999Early web, before YouTube
• The story Homestar Runner 2000Early web, before YouTube
• Watch Techno Viking 2000Early web, before YouTube
• The story Chinese Internet slang 2000Early web, before YouTube
• Watch Peanut Butter Jelly Time 2001Early web, before YouTube
• The story Cyworld 2001Early web, before YouTube
• The story StumbleUpon 2002Early web, before YouTube
• The story The Game 2002Early web, before YouTube
• Watch The End of the World 2003Early web, before YouTube
• The story O RLY? 2003Early web, before YouTube
• The story 4chan 2003Early web, before YouTube
• The story Crazy Frog 2003Early web, before YouTube
• The story Tom Anderson 2003Early web, before YouTube
• The story Delicious 2003Early web, before YouTube
• The story Movember 2003Early web, before YouTube
• The story Second Life 2003Early web, before YouTube
• The story Dean Scream 2004Early web, before YouTube
• The story Salad Fingers 2004Early web, before YouTube
• The story This Land (JibJab) 2004Early web, before YouTube
• The story YTMND 2004Early web, before YouTube
• The story I Love Bees 2004Early web, before YouTube
• The story Orkut 2004Early web, before YouTube
• The story Digg 2004Early web, before YouTube
• The story TV Tropes 2004Early web, before YouTube
• Watch Boom Goes the Dynamite 2005Early YouTube
• The story Canon Rock 2005Early YouTube
• Watch Charlie the Unicorn 2005Early YouTube
• Watch Lazy Sunday 2005Early YouTube
• The story Where the Hell is Matt? 2005Early YouTube
• The story The Million Dollar Homepage 2005Early YouTube

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