Top 25 Most Viral Moments Of Each Year (2000 - 2025)

Viral Moments of Each Year of the Century So Far

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today were counting down our picks for some of the most popular trending moments, videos, and things from each year of the 21st century, to this point.

2000: J.Los Dress

At the 42nd Grammy Awards in February of this year, Jennifer Lopez wore a now iconic green Versace dress with a plunging neckline. The dress - and Lopez wearing it - immediately became an overnight sensation. And while traditional media outlets, like entertainment shows and fashion magazines naturally featured it heavily, it arguably had the biggest impact online. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt cites this dress and the massive number of searches for it as the reason for the creation of Googles image search function. And who says the internets collective thirst never drove innovation?

2001: All Your Base Are Belong to Us

Poor video game translations have led to many memes over the years, but all of them pale in comparison to the popularity of this one. The European release of the Japanese shooter Zero Wing was given a terrible English translation, with lines like all your base are belong to us, for great justice, or you have no chance to survive, make your time. While versions of the meme predated 2001, it was in this year that a music video remixing the games awkward dialogue into a surprisingly catchy tune was released on Newgrounds. This helped the meme spread like wildfire, and had people online and in real-life quoting it, turning it into t-shirts, or otherwise ensuring that all your memes are belong to us.

2002: Michael Jackson on the Balcony

The King of Pop made headlines for years, but this particular incident had everyone up in arms. In November of 2002, Michael Jackson dangled his infant son Prince Michael Jackson II, nicknamed Blanket, over the balcony of his Berlin hotel room. While Jackson apologized soon after for his actions, his cavalier endangerment of his baby still got tongues wagging everywhere and gave tabloids plenty of material. Even years afterwards, the moment has been parodied and referenced extensively. Michael Jacksons erratic, and often controversial behavior was the subject of much discussion throughout the final years of his life, but this singular moment epitomizes all the others.

2003: Star Wars Kid

As tempted as we were to discuss the absurdist brilliance of the Badger Badger Badger song, this viral video eclipsed even that. Originally filmed in 2002, this video depicts Canadian teenager Ghyslain Raza as he spins a golf ball retriever in imitation of Darth Maul from Star Wars. The video was found by some of Razas classmates, who uploaded it to the internet, after which it went viral. Edits of the video featuring Star Wars music and/or lightsaber effects were common parodies. While Raza unfortunately received abuse as a result of his unwanted fame, he has overcome it in his successful career as a lawyer and public speaker. Also, the guys an icon of internet history.

2004: Nipplegate

Super Bowl halftime shows always make a splash, but this one was a veritable tsunami! During this halftime show, Janet Jackson performed alongside Justin Timberlake. While dancing, Timberlake, who had only been informed of changes to the choreography 20 minutes before the show began, accidentally exposed Jacksons nipple. The fact that the nipple was itself covered in a nipple shield and exposed for less than a second, did little to quell the ensuing controversy over the wardrobe malfunction. Widespread discussion over censorship in broadcasting followed. The incident also helped make the moment the most searched for term in internet history until that point. YouTubes co-founders have also claimed that the incidents lack of availability helped spur the creation of the video sharing site as well.

2005: Tom Cruise Jumps the Couch

This year marked several notable viral moments. Lazy Sunday becoming the first YouTube viral sensation was a tempting alternative, but traditional media still reigned supreme in 2005. In May, Tom Cruise appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, ostensibly to promote a movie. However, all anyone can remember is Cruise jumping on the couch to declare his love for Katie Holmes. Cruises actions raised plenty of eyebrows, with some of the words used to describe the moment including manic, unhinged, or performative. The incident also received widespread mockery and parodies. This, along with Cruises outspoken interviews on Scientology the same year, only fueled discussions of the stars odd behavior.

2006: The Evolution of Dance

Early YouTube was a beautiful thing. It didnt take polish to trend, merely a cool idea executed well. This video is of a stage performance by motivational speaker Judson Laipply. In it, Laipply performs various dance moves accompanied by music, depicting the evolution of popular dances over the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Laipplys enthusiasm is contagious and the nostalgia for each dance is equally infectious, even today. The video quickly became YouTubes most viewed video, a title it reclaimed several times until it was finally had to say bye bye bye to the throne in 2009.

2007: Charlie Bit My Finger

YouTube had many viral hits this year, and although the famed plea to leave Britney alone! also made waves, our pick goes to something far more adorable. In the video, young siblings Harry and Charlie Davies-Carr play on a chair. Harry puts his finger in Charlies mouth, and while he laughs at his infant brother biting him, he is surprised when it starts to hurt. The cute kids and several hilarious quotes throughout the video quickly helped it become the highest viewed video on YouTube. Harry may have been in a world of hurt, but he and Charlie had the whole worlds attention.

2008: Rickrolling

Weve all been there - you click on a link or a video and instead of what you were looking for, you instead see Rick Astley singing in that now iconic music video for Never Gonna Give You Up. The practice of bait-and-switch pranks online predates the Rickroll, and even Rickrolling itself goes back to 2007. Yet it was in 2008 with its spread to YouTube that the prank truly went viral. One survey that year suggested that as many as 18 million people had been Rickrolled. In the years since, Rickrolling has cemented itself as an indelible part of internet culture, to the point where all of us are no strangers to loveyou know the rules and so do I! Why is it so catchy?!

2009: Susan Boyles Debut

If you want to consider David After Dentist the biggest viral video of the year, we wouldnt blame you. But even so, theres just something magic about this moment. On the premiere of the 3rd season of Britains Got Talent, the judges and the audience werent expecting much from Susan Boyle when she came on stage. Her unassuming appearance isnt what most people associate with her chosen talent - singing. But Boyle proved all the doubters wrong almost from the second she began belting out I Dreamed a Dream from Les Misérables. Her stunning voice had everyone cheering, whether they saw her perform live or not. Boyles inspirational performance catapulted her to stardom and ensured that several of her eventual albums debuted at #1.

2010: Double Rainbow

Sometimes the simple pleasures in life are the best ones. In January 2010, Paul Bear Vasquez spotted a pair of rainbows outside his house near Yosemite National Park in California. Vasquez filmed the moment, and spent nearly 3 minutes simply gushing over natures beauty. His descriptions of the double rainbow as full-on and all the way were immediately iconic, and helped fuel song parodies and other memes. Double Rainbow is arguably the swan song of classic YouTube, with one mans unvarnished joy making all of us happier too. Rest in rainbows, Bear.

2011: Friday

This was a year for annoying earworm songs. As much as we love or love to hate Nyan Cat and its endlessly looping adorableness, Friday simply blew up more. Lots of teenagers hope their songs will make them famous. But Rebeccas Blacks Friday achieved infamy and plenty of mockery. And given how easy a target the song is, we can hardly blame the internet. Heavy auto-tune, nonsensical lyrics that essentially narrate someones day, and a baffling music video all ensured Friday became the subject of parodies, dubs, and memes alike. While few would call Friday good, it certainly made an impact.

2012: Gangnam Style

Trending videos are one thing, but Gangnam Style was a veritable cultural phenomenon! Psys genre-mixing K-Pop song had all the ingredients for a viral hit - an incredibly entertaining music video, simple yet fun dance moves, and an infectiously catchy beat. Its no wonder why it became the first YouTube video to hit a billion views - a figure it has since more than quintupled, by the way! It was absolutely impossible to avoid Gangnam Style that year, with Psy appearing on talk shows across the world, the song getting played practically everywhere, people dressing up like Psy for Halloween, and tributes and parody videos getting uploaded frequently. It certainly didnt hurt that practically every frame of the music video was memeworthy. Its a viral gold standard.

2013: Harlem Shake

We almost chose Sweet Browns famous description of a fire, but aint nobody got time for that - including us. Instead, were going with this explosively popular dance video trend. Originally started by Filthy Frank, the meme involves people dancing to the song Harlem Shake by DJ Baauer. After the bass drops, the dancers dance significantly wilder and more chaotically. The simple how it started, how its going premise and the ease of executing it helped spawn a truly amazing number of imitators - like thousands of Harlem Shake videos were getting uploaded on YouTube daily!

2014: Ice Bucket Challenge

Once in a blue moon, a meme can help make the world a better place. To spread awareness of ALS, a.k.a. motor neuron disease or Lou Gehrig's disease, participants are challenged to either dump a bucket of ice water over themselves and/or give money to charities for the affliction. If fairs and carnivals have taught us anything, its that watching someone get immersed in water is very entertaining, and this combined that phenomenon with a good cause to go viral. The pass it on nature of the challenge, as well as several celebrity participants helped ensure that it spread everywheremuch like all that ice water.

2015: The Dress

We dont even have to qualify which dress were talking about - you know the one. A Tumblr user originally posted a photo of a certain distinctive dress, sparking debate on what its colors are - white and gold, or black and blue. The debate set the internet ablaze, with camps forming to defend each. The actual color of the dress is, in fact, black and blue, however, the lighting makes it appear white and gold to some people - a majority of them, according to some polls. See! My eyes work just fine! The picture sparked not only memes, but also scientific research into the way humans perceive color.

2016: Pokémon GO

Mobile games have all had their day in the sun, but few have burned quite as brightly as Pokémon GO. The concept of finding Pokémon in real-life appealed to generations of fans around the globe. The games app easily became one of the most popular ever, and saw gamers and netizens brave the great outdoors in search of their favorite Pokémon. And sure, the many incidents involving overzealous would-be Pokémon trainers certainly caused a stir and Hillary Clintons contribution still makes us cringe. But at the end of the day, it got us exercising, and led to plenty of memes, particularly with some of the strange locations the Pokémon could be found.

2017: #MeToo

While it was actually started in the 2000s by activist Tarana Burke, the MeToo movement exploded in 2017. The MeToo hashtag was started on Twitter by Alyssa Milano, to turn the public eye towards the pervasive issue of sexual harassment and assault. Many women in the entertainment industry came forward, with several high-profile abusers being exposed and effectively blacklisted. But social media truly hammered home just how omnipresent these crimes are, with so many of us knowing someone or being someone who used the hashtag. The MeToo movement opened the worlds eyes to the issue in a way few things had before, and our eyes can never be shut again.

2018: Yanny or Laurel

The Tide Pod challenge was in the running this year. But ultimately, we considered this viral moment both more popular, and more healthy. After the Dress, we all thought we were done with divisive perception-based disagreements over trivial things. But then we heard this sound. Some people hear Yanny. Others hear Laurel. Well, both groups are right this time. The audio contains both sets of sounds, but people who hear the higher pitch portion tend to hear Yanny, while those who hear lower pitched sounds hear Laurel. And since younger people tend to hear higher pitched sounds, the phenomenon also acts as yet another way to remind us that were old.

2019: Baby Yoda

As hilariously disastrous as the Storm Area 51 event was, it paled in comparison to a fictional alien child. The Mandalorian proved an overnight sensation not only for its solid, space Western storytelling and great look, but also because of Grogu, or as the internet knew him initially, Baby Yoda. We doubt Disney was prepared for the little tykes meteoric popularity - the lack of merchandise at first certainly suggests a lack of foresight. Regardless, Baby Yoda was inescapable in 2019. His ugly cute design struck a chord with Star Wars fans and non-fans alike, with his every adorable action making us say awwwwwhen we werent creating memes about him, at least.

2020: Among Us

The year that began the COVID-19 pandemic in earnest saw a few odd viral moments, given that quarantine kept most of us isolated. Although Tiger King proved strangely compelling, it was a video game that trended harder. Among Us sees various space beans have to complete tasks, while 2 of them are actually imposters trying to kill the rest. Originally released in 2018, Among Us didnt truly take off until 2020, when its brand of social deduction offered a more conversational way to reconnect during isolation. Streamers made it huge, to the point where non-gamers and politicians joined in. Among Us also spawned tons of memes, is due for an animated adaptation, and helped slang like sus enter the public lexicon.

2021: GameStop Short Squeeze

While Bernie Sanders and his mittens, of all things, nearly clinched it this year, our pick goes to that time Redditors created a meme to put the squeeze on hedge funds. Some folks on Reddit noticed that GameStops stock value was being undervalued and hedge funds were promising to buy more stocks than existed. By buying more GameStop stock and memeing about it, they drove up the price of the stock, made a killing, sent the stock market into a tizzy, and forced those hedge funds to buy at hugely inflated prices. Oh, and there was a full-on congressional investigation and a movie made about it. Thats stonks for you.

2022: The Oscars Slap

This was a crazy year for trending moments. We could have gone with the Depp v. Heard trial, or Wednesdays viral dance scene. But no single moment trended quite like this one. At the Oscars, presenter Chris Rock cracked a joke about Jada-Pinkett Smith. Soon afterwards, her husband Will Smith walked up onstage and slapped Rock across the face. Once everyone shook off their disbelief that the incident actually occurred, the internet exploded with discussion about it. Was it staged? Toxic masculinity run amok? Memes replacing both of them with famous people or characters and remixes of Smiths tirade were abundant too. Can you imagine going back in time to the 90s and telling someone about this? They wouldnt believe you!

2023: Barbenheimer

Two wildly different releases happening on the same day has led to things going viral before, but they all bow to the majesty of Barbenheimer. The films Barbie and Oppenheimer were both set to release on July 21st, 2023. When the internet realized this, memes naturally ensued. The two clashing tones led to some fun mashups, of everything from artwork to differently shaded trailers. Rather than compete against each other, the Barbenheimer phenomenon instead helped celebrate them both as a kind of bizarre double feature. And it certainly paid off, with both doing great numbers at the box office and during awards season.

2024: Moo Deng

Baby animals are always making the rounds on social media, but this year one wiggled her way to the top. In September of 2024, images and video of a baby pygmy hippopotamus named Moo Deng from a Thai zoo went viral everywhere. Moo Deng, whose name means bouncing pork, is an adorable chonky baby, sure. But her expressions, particularly when distressed from getting sprayed with water or getting picked up, made her even more popular. Fan art and other memes followed, and visits to the zoo increased rapidly. Moo Deng even has a crypto currency named after her. Thats how you know a meme animal has made it into the hall of fame.

Is there a viral moment you think should have been our top pick for one of these years? Ride on down to the comments to share your choices.