26 January in internet history

Things that can be dated to 26 January: the day something was posted, a record that changed hands, an event research has pinned to a date. Every entry links to where it was read.

1. 2021

   Stonks During the GameStop squeeze Musk tweets “Gamestonk!!”, and the shares rise 157 per cent in after-hours trading. Wikipedia — Meme Man

2. 2021

   The GameStop short squeeze The shares close up 92.7 per cent in a day. Elon Musk’s tweet “Gamestonk!!” follows. Wikipedia — GameStop short squeeze

These did not happen on 26 January. They are shown because the day itself is thin, and each one carries its own date.

1. 23 January 2004

   Dean Scream Four days later, television networks have aired the clip 633 times. Within a week the figure is 937. Wikipedia — Dean scream

2. 23 January 2012

   Bad Luck Brian Davies posts the photograph to Reddit. It spreads through 4chan, Facebook and Twitter. Wikipedia — Bad Luck Brian

3. 25 January 1994

   Eternal September David Fischer writes that September 1993 will go down in net history as the September that never ended. Wikipedia — Eternal September

4. 27 January 2021

   r/wallstreetbets Its Discord server is banned, and the forum itself is closed to outsiders for about an hour. Wikipedia — r/wallstreetbets

5. 28 January 1999

   GeoCities Yahoo! announces it will buy GeoCities for 3.57 billion US dollars in stock. Wikipedia — GeoCities

6. 28 January 2011

   Social media and the Arab Spring Egypt, having blocked Facebook and Twitter, is reported to have cut off the internet altogether. Wikipedia — Social media and the Arab Spring

7. 28 January 2021

   Bernie Sanders' mittens Sales of Sanders’s own sweatshirt of the picture are reported to have raised at least 1.8 million dollars for charity. Wikipedia — Bernie Sanders mittens meme

8. 28 January 2021

   The GameStop short squeeze The shares reach 483 dollars, having opened the month at 17.25. The trading app Robinhood stops its customers buying them. Wikipedia — GameStop short squeeze