The first video ever posted on YouTube, titled ‘Me at the zoo,’ is now part of an exhibit at London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, recognizing its importance in the history of the internet.
The very first video on YouTube, titled ‘Me at the Zoo,’ was posted on April 23, 2005. It features Jawed Karim, one of YouTube’s founders, standing near the elephant exhibit at the San Diego Zoo.
Since it was first posted twenty years ago, this video has become incredibly popular, earning over 382 million views and a special place in the hearts of users as the very first video ever uploaded to the platform.
The iconic 19-second video, ‘Me at the zoo,’ is a hugely important part of internet history, and London’s Victoria and Albert Museum is celebrating it with a major exhibition.
Victoria and Albert Museum acquires YouTube’s ‘Me at the zoo’
Okay, so I just heard this is awesome – the V&A Museum is actually showing what the very first YouTube video, ‘Me at the zoo’, looked like back in 2005! They’ve rebuilt the whole experience, apparently. It was revealed on February 18, 2026, and I’m definitely checking it out – gotta see how we all started down the rabbit hole of online video!
Compared to how the website appears now, the older version is strikingly different. It featured a bright white background, used stars to show ratings, and had a large, boxy description area in the top right corner.
YouTube announced in a blog post that the V&A Museum has added the first-ever YouTube video and its original webpage to its collection, aiming to safeguard the history and culture of the internet.
To create a nostalgic exhibit, YouTube collaborated with its design team and the studio oio to perfectly replicate the platform’s original look and feel. Visitors to the V&A East Storehouse can also see how this recreation was made with a behind-the-scenes display.
‘Me at the zoo’ can be viewed in Design 1900–Now gallery at the V&A South Kensington.
YouTube recently revisited its very first video, much like it did in April 2025 when it celebrated its 20th anniversary. Back then, the website replaced the scroll button with a cake – a special tribute reserved for its most popular and memorable videos.
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2026-02-19 00:18