Celebrities

'Charlie Bit My Finger' boys back on YouTube - again!

By Mike Reader

mreader@charlotteobserver.com
In 2007, a British father wanted to share a 55-second video about his two young boys with their godfather in the USA, but it was too large for email. He uploaded “Charlie bit my finger - again !” and created what is perhaps YouTube’s first-ever viral hit.
In 2007, a British father wanted to share a 55-second video about his two young boys with their godfather in the USA, but it was too large for email. He uploaded “Charlie bit my finger - again !” and created what is perhaps YouTube’s first-ever viral hit. YouTube screen grab from HDCYT’s Charlie Bit Me! channel

It's been just over 10 years since a rather mundane clip about elephants at the zoo broke cyber-ground as the first-ever YouTube video (according to several sources including CNBC) on April 23, 2005.

About two years later, a British father wanted to share a 55-second video about his two young boys with their godfather in the USA, but it was too large for email. He uploaded “Charlie bit my finger - again !” to YouTube and created what is perhaps the now giant Internet video site's first-ever viral smash hit.

Eight years and 815 million page views later, the BBC checked in on Charlie and his brother. Here's a look at both videos.

This story was originally published April 27, 2015 at 1:48 AM with the headline "'Charlie Bit My Finger' boys back on YouTube - again!."

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