Internet culture / A visual history

The joke
that became
a language.

Before the feed, there was the forward. Before the forward, the printed joke. From a 1921 cartoon to text faces, viral loops and remix culture: how the internet learned to speak meme.

Enter the timeline 1921 to 2026
One very online journey.

Grumpy Cat at VidCon in 2014, photographed by Gage Skidmore — THE FACE THAT SAID IT ALL.Grumpy Cat, 2014 photograph

:-)1982

MDN’s 2026 cartoon of a founder distracted by someone else’s ARR claim — 2026 / SAME INSTINCT. NEW CONTEXT.

From an inside joke
to a shared vocabulary.

COPY.CAPTION.REMIX.REPEAT.A format changes. The impulse stays.

01 / Open the time machine

Every era has a tell.

Follow the joke from print to the feed.
Dates and sources at every stop.

Read the complete timeline: all 32 moments

1921
Expectation vs. reality, before the web.
Print publication: May 1921. Online rediscovery: 2018.
The two-panel “How you think you look” cartoon appears on page 18 of the May 1921 Wisconsin Octopus. Its familiar expectation-versus-reality joke resurfaced online in 2018. This is a documented print-era precursor, not proof of the first meme: jokes and cultural imitation are much older.
What changed
The visual setup predates both the internet and the word meme.
1921 cartoon credited to the Wisconsin Octopus; Judge reprint scan via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain. Not a claim of the first-ever meme.
UW–Madison: archivist verifies the original issue Public-domain scan and provenance
1976
Dawkins names the concept.
Term coined: 1976. Cultural imitation is much older.
Richard Dawkins coins the word “meme” in The Selfish Gene for a unit of cultural transmission or imitation. He does not invent jokes, shared symbols or the first meme. This entry dates the term, not the beginning of the behavior and not the first internet meme.
What changed
The useful unit is not just an object. It is an idea that people copy, adapt and pass on.
Original typographic treatment. A concept, not a historic book-cover reproduction.
Source: Lancaster University
1982
Three characters. A whole tone.
Documented proposal: September 19, 1982.
On September 19, Scott Fahlman proposes :-) as a joke marker on a Carnegie Mellon bulletin board. The surviving discussion is a remarkably clear record of a community inventing a way to make text feel less ambiguous.
What changed
A tiny, repeatable visual cue can do the work of a facial expression. Read it sideways.
Typography from the documented 1982 proposal, presented in a new explanatory layout. Not a screenshot.
Read the original thread
1986
Kaomoji: a face you read upright.
Use reported by Wakabayashi: June 20, 1986; retrospective account: July 23, 2006.
Yasushi Wakabayashi’s own account dates his use of (^_^) on ASCII-NET to June 20, 1986. He initially used the face as part of his signature; other users adapted it in their chat handles. This is an early-use milestone, not proof that one person invented every form of kaomoji.
What changed
A few characters become a reusable visual language across communities.
(^_^) reproduced as text from Wakabayashi’s account. Page typography, not an archival screenshot.
Yasushi Wakabayashi — firsthand account Preserved message linked by Wakabayashi
1990
Godwin’s Law.
Creation: 1990, recounted by Godwin in 1994.
Mike Godwin describes starting his counter-meme in 1990: the longer an online discussion runs, the more likely a Nazi comparison becomes. In his own 1994 account, he explains how the saying spread and acquired variations without his help.
What changed
A repeatable response to online behavior becomes part of that behavior.
Later Godwin’s Law image macro from the Know Your Meme archive. The 1990 date refers to the saying, not this image; the image’s original creator and creation date are unverified.
Mike Godwin’s own WIRED essay Archived meme image and context Image file — source archive
1993
Eternal September.
Period referenced: September 1993. Surviving phrase: January 1994. Shown image archived: 2011.
“Eternal September” describes an influx of Usenet newcomers that seemed never to end. A January 1994 post by Dave Fischer calls September 1993 “the September that never ended.” The familiar claim that AOL opened Usenet access in September 1993 is mistaken: historian Kevin Driscoll dates the gateway launch to February 28, 1994.
What changed
An inside joke becomes shorthand for a community’s changing identity.
Eternal September calendar meme, archived by Know Your Meme in 2011. This is a later visual expression of the saying, not an image created in 1993.
Surviving January 1994 Usenet thread Historian Kevin Driscoll corrects the AOL chronology Calendar meme image archive Image file — source archive
1994
Good Times: the warning was the virus.
Circulation: late 1994; surviving FAQ: 1995.
An email warning claimed that reading a message titled “Good Times” could damage your computer. The warning was a hoax, but people kept forwarding it. A surviving 1995 Usenet FAQ documents its 1994 circulation and debunking. This was a contagious false warning, not a real email virus.
What changed
Fear and a request to forward can spread a message as effectively as a joke.
Actual warning text preserved in Les Jones’s October 1995 Good Times Virus Hoax FAQ. Screenshot of the Google Groups archive, captured November 4, 2026; not a 1994 email-client screenshot. The warning was false.
Read the contemporary Usenet FAQ
1996
The Dancing Baby goes viral.
Animation creation and early circulation: 1996.
The Dancing Baby began with Character Studio animation work by Michael Girard and Robert Lurye, with John Chadwick contributing character deformation. Ron Lussier modified and rendered a version that spread by email in 1996. GIF conversions helped the baby travel beyond the original 3D software.
What changed
An odd little file can travel far beyond the software community that made it.
Actual Dancing Baby GIF from Ron Lussier’s original archive. Animation: Michael Girard, Robert Lurye and Ron Lussier; deformation: John Chadwick and Ron Lussier. This is the historical animation, not a recreation.
Original GIF and production credits University of Luxembourg: creation and circulation Original GIF file — Ron Lussier archive
1998
Hampster Dance.
Launch: 1998; wider attention: 1999.
Deidre LaCarte’s dancing-rodent webpage launched in 1998 and became a web craze in 1999.
What changed
A dedicated joke page becomes something people send each other.
Screenshot of Deidre LaCarte’s Hampster Dance page, via Know Your Meme.
Contemporary reporting: December 1999 Image archive and context Image file — source archive
2001
All Your Base Are Belong to Us.
Remix upload: February 16, 2001.
A mistranslated line from Zero Wing becomes material for image edits and a music-video remix. Bad-CRC’s Newgrounds upload is dated February 16, 2001 and credits images made by a Tribes forum community. That is the remix’s publication date, not the game’s release or the phrase’s first circulation.
What changed
People place the same phrase in new pictures; the accumulated remixes become the next work.
Zero Wing cutscene showing the phrase used in All Your Base remixes; archive image via Know Your Meme.
Original Newgrounds upload and creator comments Image archive and context Image file — source archive
2002
Peanut Butter Jelly Time.
Early circulation: 2002; dated Newgrounds repost: March 21.
A dancing banana and a song become a looping Flash joke. Know Your Meme traces the animation to Ryan Gancenia Etrata and Kevin Flynn on Offtopic; Newgrounds preserves a March 21, 2002 record for YrebWarts’s repost, although that upload has since been deleted.
What changed
A simple character and repeatable musical hook invite copies and remakes.
Animated dancing banana from Peanut Butter Jelly Time, via Know Your Meme.
Newgrounds: dated record of the deleted upload Creator attribution and spread Image file — source archive
2003
Badger, badger, badger.
Creator upload: September 1 EDT / September 2 UK, 2003.
Jonti Picking, known as Weebl, turns badgers, mushrooms and a snake into an absurd looping animation. His Newgrounds page preserves the work and an upload timestamp of September 1, 2003, at 11:49 p.m. EDT—September 2 in the UK.
What changed
Repetition and a musical loop become the joke’s delivery system.
Still from Jonti “Weebl” Picking’s Badger animation, via Know Your Meme.
Weebl’s original Newgrounds upload Image archive and context Image file — source archive
2004
Numa Numa.
Original upload: December 6, 2004; before YouTube.
Gary Brolsma uploaded his webcam lip-sync to Newgrounds on December 6, 2004. The platform’s own history records how copies spread across other websites and later YouTube. Newgrounds retired its copy, but links to Brolsma’s own later upload.
What changed
An ordinary person’s performance can become a reference that others recognize and imitate.
Gary Brolsma in Numa Numa; video still via Know Your Meme.
Newgrounds: original host’s history Image archive and context Image file — source archive
2005
Leeroy Jenkins.
WarcraftMovies publication: May 11, 2005.
A World of Warcraft raid-planning scene collapses when Leeroy charges ahead. WarcraftMovies dates its “Leeroy!!” entry to May 11, 2005. The character’s shouted name becomes a catchphrase for rushing in without the plan; the entry dates the video, not a claim that the scene was spontaneous.
What changed
A gaming-community joke becomes shorthand outside the game.
Still from the Leeroy Jenkins video, from andrew55’s November 2005 YouTube repost. The original WarcraftMovies entry is dated May 2005.
Contemporary WarcraftMovies listing Image archive and context Watch the surviving 2005 repost Image file — source archive
2006
Evolution of Dance.
YouTube upload: April 6, 2006.
Judson Laipply’s rapid tour through familiar dance moves was uploaded to YouTube on April 6, 2006. His own account describes a stage routine finding a much larger audience online. The upload date marks its online release, not the first performance of the routine.
What changed
Video platforms make a performance easy to discover, share and imitate.
Judson Laipply performing Evolution of Dance; video still via Know Your Meme.
Watch Judson Laipply’s original upload The performer’s account Image archive and context Image file — source archive
2007
You know the rules.
Prank emerges: 2007; song released: 1987.
A promising link turns out to be Rick Astley’s 1987 “Never Gonna Give You Up” video. Rickrolling grows from 4chan in 2007 and reaches a much wider audience in 2008. The song and the prank have different birthdays.
What changed
The meme can be a shared action: setting up a surprise, recognizing it, then passing it on.
Rick Astley performing in Dallas, 2017. Photo: Wjack12, CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped. Not an original video still.
Rickroll history Watch the official music video Photo credit — Wjack12, CC BY-SA 4.0
2007
LOLcats: a shared caption language.
Mainstream expansion: 2007; earlier imageboard circulation: mid-2000s.
Captioned cat images were circulating before 2007. That year, I Can Has Cheezburger helped bring the format to a much wider audience. Deliberately broken English became a recognizable voice that people could reuse with different cats and situations.
What changed
The template includes a way of writing, not just a picture.
A captioned LOLcat example from the Know Your Meme archive; not claimed as the first LOLcat.
History and documented examples Image file — source archive
2008
Trollface and rage comics.
Original comic upload: September 19, 2008.
Carlos Ramirez, posting as Whynne, uploaded the comic containing Trollface to DeviantArt in September 2008. The grin spread as a reusable character in rage comics and a shorthand for provoking someone online.
What changed
A drawn expression becomes a character anyone can place in a new story.
Trollface by Carlos Ramirez (Whynne), via Know Your Meme.
History and documented examples Image file — source archive
2011
Nyan Cat.
Original animation and video remix: April 2011.
Chris Torres created the pastry-bodied pixel cat in April 2011. A musical video remix helped turn the looping animation into Nyan Cat. In his creator interview, Torres describes the drawing’s origins and the collaboration and remixing behind its spread.
What changed
A drawing, an animation and somebody else’s musical pairing can become one shared reference.
Chris Torres’s Nyan Cat character; archive image via Know Your Meme.
Chris Torres: creator interview Image archive and context Image file — source archive
2012
Grumpy Cat. One face, endless situations.
Original Reddit post: September 23, 2012.
In September, photographs of Tardar Sauce appear on Reddit. Grumpy Cat becomes a ready-made response to almost anything: the expression stays familiar while the situation and caption change.
What changed
Recognition becomes part of the punchline. A template makes room for thousands of people to add their own version.
Original Grumpy Cat photograph shared by Bryan Bundesen in September 2012, preserved in the Know Your Meme image archive.
Original Reddit post — “Meet Grumpy Cat”Grumpy Cat history — Know Your Meme Original photograph — archive reference Original photograph — image file
2013
Such format. Much recognition.
Doge breakout: 2013; Kabosu photograph: 2010.
A photograph of Kabosu, taken in 2010 by Atsuko Sato, becomes central to Doge’s 2013 breakout. Colorful Comic Sans phrases create a distinctive inner monologue. The visual language is recognizable before you finish reading.
What changed
The meme’s grammar becomes reusable: a particular voice, typeface and way of noticing the world.
Kabosu, photographed by Atsuko Sato; archive image via Know Your Meme.
Doge chronology and original photo attribution Image file — source archive
2013
This is fine.
Comic published: January 9, 2013; reaction-image reuse documented from 2013 onward.
K.C. Green published the burning-room comic in Gunshow on January 9, 2013. Its opening panels circulated separately as a reaction to situations that were plainly going wrong. The comic’s publication and the meme’s later growth are different events.
What changed
A short excerpt can give an existing work a second life as a reaction image.
Excerpt from K.C. Green’s Gunshow comic, published January 9, 2013; archive image via Know Your Meme.
History and documented examples Image file — source archive
2015
The Dress.
Viral breakout: February 26–27, 2015.
A photograph of a dress splits viewers between white-and-gold and blue-and-black. Contemporary coverage traces its February 2015 explosion from Tumblr to BuzzFeed and wider social media. The disagreement itself becomes the participatory joke.
What changed
A shared image can spread because people cannot agree on what they see.
The Dress photograph shown in Automattic’s 2025 retrospective graphic; not a recreation of the dress.
TIME: reporting during the breakout Retrospective with Cates Holderness Image file — source archive
2017
One pixel is a negotiation.
Original r/place event: 2017.
Reddit’s r/place gives people a shared canvas and the ability to place individual colored tiles. Communities coordinate, compete and defend their corners. The references matter, but so does the act of building together.
What changed
Internet culture becomes an event you help make, not only an image you receive.
Original pixel study made for this page. It illustrates collaboration and is not a reproduction of an r/place canvas.
Read Reddit’s r/place account
2017
Distracted Boyfriend.
Stock photograph: 2015; meme breakout: 2017.
Antonio Guillem’s 2015 stock photograph became a widely shared labeling format in 2017. The three people could stand for competing choices: what you have, what you want and the person doing the choosing. MDN later remixed this structure for its ARR story.
What changed
Labels turn a recognizable scene into an argument about almost anything.
The source stock photograph by Antonio Guillem, 2015; archive image via Know Your Meme.
History and documented examples Image file — source archive
2019
Woman yelling at a cat.
Two-image pairing documented: May 1, 2019; source images are older.
A 2011 Real Housewives scene and a 2018 photograph of Smudge the cat became a single reaction format in 2019. The pairing makes two unrelated images look like an argument, inviting new captions on each side.
What changed
Juxtaposition creates a story that neither source image told alone.
The paired Real Housewives reaction and Smudge photograph; archive image via Know Your Meme.
History and documented examples Image archive and context Image file — source archive
2020
Coffin Dance.
Remix breakout: early 2020; pallbearer footage predates the meme.
Footage of Ghanaian dancing pallbearers was remixed with “Astronomia” and paired with mishaps in early 2020. The cut to the dancers became a recognizable punchline. The meme’s breakout came years after footage of the performers had circulated.
What changed
Editing and a music cue make the transition itself the joke.
Ghanaian dancing pallbearers; archive video still via Know Your Meme.
History and documented examples Image file — source archive
2021
Bernie’s mittens.
Photograph and viral breakout: January 2021.
A photograph of Bernie Sanders seated at the January 2021 presidential inauguration becomes a cutout placed into new scenes. Contemporary reporting documents the remixes and the merchandise that raised money for Vermont charities.
What changed
One recognizable pose becomes a portable character in thousands of different settings.
Bernie Sanders at the 2021 inauguration, photographed by Brendan Smialowski / AFP; archive image via Know Your Meme.
NPR reporting: the meme and charity fundraising Image archive and context Image file — source archive
2023
Skibidi Toilet.
First episode: February 7, 2023.
DaFuq!?Boom! uploaded the first Skibidi Toilet short in February 2023. The bizarre singing-head-in-a-toilet joke grew into a continuing animated series, fan art and remixes. It was made with Source Filmmaker; it should not be confused with the later AI-generated Italian brainrot genre.
What changed
A short looping joke can grow into a world with characters and an audience of remixers.
Scenes from DaFuq!?Boom!’s Skibidi Toilet series; archive montage via Know Your Meme.
History and documented examples Image archive and context Image file — source archive
2024
Now we have a name for the feeling.
Word-of-the-Year selection: 2024; phrase existed earlier.
Oxford names “brain rot” its Word of the Year. The phrase reflects concern and humor about consuming low-quality online content, but it is not newly invented: Oxford traces an early use to 1854.
What changed
The feed does not just spread jokes. It gives us language for what consuming the feed feels like.
Original typographic graphic. “Brain rot” is the 2024 Oxford Word of the Year, not a diagnosis or the invention date of the phrase.
Oxford’s announcement
2025
The remix gets a stranger toolkit.
Genre circulation: 2025; no single established origin.
Italian brainrot combines surreal AI-generated animal-object characters with exaggerated, pseudo-Italian narration. The genre circulates through short-form video. It is an evolving cluster of remixes, not a single securely established invention.
What changed
Images, voices and impossible combinations can all become reusable material for the joke.
Archive montage of Italian brainrot characters, via Know Your Meme. These are examples of the 2025 genre, not newly generated artwork for this page.
2025 research: characters, images and narration Character examples and chronology Image file — source archive
2026
The joke opens the story.
MDN examples published: October 30, 2026.
Meme Daily News uses memes to communicate tech, business, startup, science and AI news. Some remix classic formats; others are original features. Its October ARR story reworks the distracted-attention setup around founders comparing revenue claims.
What changed
A meme can be an entry point to understanding, as long as the story and its sources come with it.
Original Meme Daily News illustration, October 30, 2026. A classic meme setup, reimagined for the startup world.
Read the actual MDN story Explore the 2026 chapter

02 / A community, not the whole internet

Reddit is a lens.
The internet is
the canvas.

Memes moved through bulletin boards, email chains, personal blogs, imageboards and video platforms. Reddit is one place where they find an audience, evolve and sometimes begin.

Explore a Reddit community timeline

A community-made reference, not a definitive record of origins.

The meeting place

r/memes

A home for sharing and remixing familiar formats. The comments are part of the culture, too.

Visit the community →

The launch point

“Meet Grumpy Cat”

A September 2012 Reddit post helped introduce Tardar Sauce to the internet. Here, the original post is part of the story.

See the original thread →

The collective act

r/place

In 2017, individual pixels became a canvas built through cooperation, competition and shared references.

Read Reddit’s account →

03 / You are here

2026. Same grammar.
New headlines.

From the MDN newsroom

News, told visually.
Memes are our medium.

Meme Daily News covers tech, business, startups, science and AI through visual storytelling. Memes are our vehicle of choice: some are classics with a new twist; others are original features. Here’s a look at MDN in October 2026.

A founder looks at someone else’s ARR post while ignoring his actual ARR, in an original MDN cartoon

FORMAT / DISTRACTED BOYFRIEND

Business & startups · October 30, 2026

Someone else’s ARR is not your deadline.

MDN uses the distracted-attention setup to frame Greg Isenberg’s warning about fake revenue claims. The story then explains what ARR does, and does not, tell you.

The meme. The context. The sources. →

Two original superheroes point at each other, labeled SaaS and someone maintains my AI-built tools for a monthly fee

FORMAT / THE RECOGNITION JOKE

AI · October 30, 2026

New software. Familiar business model.

An original pointing-superheroes illustration makes the recognition joke. MDN separates Isenberg’s proposed model from the claim that the whole software market has already changed.

Read the story behind the image →

How fast is $300 faster? news meme being pinned by the collector

MDN’s comic collector holding saved articles

The next chapter is still being posted.

Stay curious. Check the context. Enjoy the meme.

Read Meme Daily News →

04 / Receipts, not folklore

The history has sources.

A note on the timeline

This is a sourced selection of print precursors, text conventions, internet memes and viral formats—not a claim to identify the first meme or to list one for every calendar year. The 1921 cartoon predates the word; 1976 dates Dawkins’s term. Most examples come from English-language internet culture, with Japanese kaomoji included among its early visual languages. A photograph’s creation, its first posting and its viral breakout can happen in different years. The dates here keep those distinctions visible.

Coverage ends on November 4, 2026. The final chapter is a snapshot of MDN’s work, not a retrospective on the whole year. Reddit is used as a community reference alongside primary records, creator accounts and reporting.

Artwork & credits

1921 cartoon: public-domain scan of the Judge reprint, credited to the Wisconsin Octopus, via Wikimedia Commons. Grumpy Cat: Gage Skidmore, 2014, source photograph, CC BY-SA 2.0. Display crops vary; no claim that this is the original 2012 meme image.

Rick Astley: Wjack12, Dallas 2017, source photograph, CC BY-SA 4.0. Cropped for display; not a still from the 1987 music video. Cropped versions retain their respective share-alike licenses.

Logo and 2026 illustrations: Meme Daily News, used here to illustrate contemporary visual storytelling. Typography, pixel studies and format diagrams are original explanatory graphics for this page, not historic screenshots. Historical meme images are reproduced alongside commentary, with individual creator credits and archive links at each stop. The Dancing Baby GIF is from Ron Lussier’s original archive. Third-party images and videos remain with their respective owners.

Fonts: DM Sans and Space Grotesk, distributed under the SIL Open Font License. DM Sans license · Space Grotesk license.

Community illustration reference

The History Of Memes (OC)https://www.reddit.com/r/memes/comments/o7x2fx/the_history_of_memes_oc/

Illustrated timeline by u/Paper-Cup, posted in r/memes. Community reference; individual historical sources are listed alongside each timeline entry.

1921 / Expectation vs. reality, before the web.
1921 cartoon credited to the Wisconsin Octopus; Judge reprint scan via Wikimedia Commons. Public domain. Not a claim of the first-ever meme.
UW–Madison: archivist verifies the original issuehttps://news.wisc.edu/uw-madison-throwback-meme-discovery-made/Public-domain scan and provenancehttps://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Primeiro_%22meme%22_que_existiu.png
1976 / Dawkins names the concept.
Original typographic treatment. A concept, not a historic book-cover reproduction.
Source: Lancaster Universityhttps://www.lancaster.ac.uk/fas/psych/glossary/meme/
1982 / Three characters. A whole tone.
Typography from the documented 1982 proposal, presented in a new explanatory layout. Not a screenshot.
Read the original threadhttps://www.cs.cmu.edu/~sef/Orig-Smiley.htm
1986 / Kaomoji: a face you read upright.
(^_^) reproduced as text from Wakabayashi’s account. Page typography, not an archival screenshot.
Yasushi Wakabayashi — firsthand accounthttps://www.deafcomic.jp/Others/FaceMark.html Preserved message linked by Wakabayashihttps://www.deafcomic.jp/Others/facerec.txt
1990 / Godwin’s Law.
Later Godwin’s Law image macro from the Know Your Meme archive. The 1990 date refers to the saying, not this image; the image’s original creator and creation date are unverified.
Mike Godwin’s own WIRED essayhttps://www.wired.com/1994/10/godwin-if-2/Archived meme image and contexthttps://knowyourmeme.com/memes/godwins-law Image file — source archivehttps://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/000/430/godwin's-law.jpg
1993 / Eternal September.
Eternal September calendar meme, archived by Know Your Meme in 2011. This is a later visual expression of the saying, not an image created in 1993.
Surviving January 1994 Usenet threadhttps://groups.google.com/g/alt.folklore.computers/c/wF4CpYbWuuA/m/jS6ZOyJd10sJ Historian Kevin Driscoll corrects the AOL chronologyhttps://www.flowjournal.org/2023/04/eternal-september/Calendar meme image archivehttps://knowyourmeme.com/photos/180391-eternal-september Image file — source archivehttps://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/180/391/september-eternal.png
1994 / Good Times: the warning was the virus.
Actual warning text preserved in Les Jones’s October 1995 Good Times Virus Hoax FAQ. Screenshot of the Google Groups archive, captured November 4, 2026; not a 1994 email-client screenshot. The warning was false.
Read the contemporary Usenet FAQhttps://groups.google.com/g/alt.comp.virus/c/1NwScPTgaWw
1996 / The Dancing Baby goes viral.
Actual Dancing Baby GIF from Ron Lussier’s original archive. Animation: Michael Girard, Robert Lurye and Ron Lussier; deformation: John Chadwick and Ron Lussier. This is the historical animation, not a recreation.
Original GIF and production creditshttp://dancingbaby.net/Babygif.htm University of Luxembourg: creation and circulationhttps://hivi.uni.lu/2022/02/22/discover-a-meme-3-the-dancing-baby-one-of-the-first-internet-memes/Original GIF file — Ron Lussier archivehttp://dancingbaby.net/anims/BabyOrigMed1.gif
1998 / Hampster Dance.
Screenshot of Deidre LaCarte’s Hampster Dance page, via Know Your Meme.
Contemporary reporting: December 1999https://www.irishtimes.com/news/can-the-pet-shop-toys-stop-sir-cliff-in-his-track-1.262804 Image archive and contexthttps://knowyourmeme.com/memes/hampster-dance Image file — source archivehttps://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/000/097/Picture_5.png
2001 / All Your Base Are Belong to Us.
Zero Wing cutscene showing the phrase used in All Your Base remixes; archive image via Know Your Meme.
Original Newgrounds upload and creator commentshttps://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/11940 Image archive and contexthttps://knowyourmeme.com/memes/all-your-base-are-belong-to-us Image file — source archivehttps://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/000/013/maxresdefault-2.jpg
2002 / Peanut Butter Jelly Time.
Animated dancing banana from Peanut Butter Jelly Time, via Know Your Meme.
Newgrounds: dated record of the deleted uploadhttps://www.newgrounds.com/portal/rip/48163 Creator attribution and spreadhttps://knowyourmeme.com/memes/peanut-butter-jelly-time Image file — source archivehttps://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/000/188/DancingBannana.gif
2003 / Badger, badger, badger.
Still from Jonti “Weebl” Picking’s Badger animation, via Know Your Meme.
Weebl’s original Newgrounds uploadhttps://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/120321 Image archive and contexthttps://knowyourmeme.com/memes/badger-badger-badger Image file — source archivehttps://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/000/381/Badger_Badger_Badger_Thumbnail.png
2004 / Numa Numa.
Gary Brolsma in Numa Numa; video still via Know Your Meme.
Newgrounds: original host’s historyhttps://www.newgrounds.com/wiki/about-newgrounds/history/stories/numa-numa Image archive and contexthttps://knowyourmeme.com/memes/numa-numa Image file — source archivehttps://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/000/070/Picture_61.png
2005 / Leeroy Jenkins.
Still from the Leeroy Jenkins video, from andrew55’s November 2005 YouTube repost. The original WarcraftMovies entry is dated May 2005.
Contemporary WarcraftMovies listinghttps://www.warcraftmovies.com/movieview.php?id=1666 Image archive and contexthttps://knowyourmeme.com/memes/leeroy-jenkins Watch the surviving 2005 reposthttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sAooq7e0gg0 Image file — source archivehttps://i.ytimg.com/vi/sAooq7e0gg0/hqdefault.jpg
2006 / Evolution of Dance.
Judson Laipply performing Evolution of Dance; video still via Know Your Meme.
Watch Judson Laipply’s original uploadhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMH0bHeiRNg The performer’s accounthttps://judsonlaipply.com/evolution-of-dance/Image archive and contexthttps://knowyourmeme.com/memes/evolution-of-dance Image file — source archivehttps://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/000/499/Evolution_of_Dance_banner.jpg
2007 / You know the rules.
Rick Astley performing in Dallas, 2017. Photo: Wjack12, CC BY-SA 4.0; cropped. Not an original video still.
Rickroll historyhttps://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/108978-first-reported-rickroll Watch the official music videohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ Photo credit — Wjack12, CC BY-SA 4.0https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Rick_Astley_Dallas.jpg
2007 / LOLcats: a shared caption language.
A captioned LOLcat example from the Know Your Meme archive; not claimed as the first LOLcat.
History and documented exampleshttps://knowyourmeme.com/memes/lolcats Image file — source archivehttps://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/000/018/lol.jpg
2008 / Trollface and rage comics.
Trollface by Carlos Ramirez (Whynne), via Know Your Meme.
History and documented exampleshttps://knowyourmeme.com/memes/trollface Image file — source archivehttps://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/000/091/TrollFace.jpg
2011 / Nyan Cat.
Chris Torres’s Nyan Cat character; archive image via Know Your Meme.
Chris Torres: creator interviewhttps://knowyourmeme.com/editorials/interviews/chris-torres-creator-of-nyan-cat-gives-us-the-full-backstory-of-his-legendary-creation-and-what-hes-up-to-now-as-the-meme-celebrates-its-10-year-anniversary Image archive and contexthttps://knowyourmeme.com/memes/nyan-cat Image file — source archivehttps://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/005/608/nyan-cat-01-625x450.jpg
2012 / Grumpy Cat. One face, endless situations.
Original Grumpy Cat photograph shared by Bryan Bundesen in September 2012, preserved in the Know Your Meme image archive.
Original Reddit post — “Meet Grumpy Cat”https://www.reddit.com/r/pics/comments/10bu17/meet_grumpy_cat/Grumpy Cat history — Know Your Memehttps://knowyourmeme.com/memes/grumpy-cat Original photograph — archive referencehttps://knowyourmeme.com/photos/406325 Original photograph — image filehttps://i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/406/325/b31.jpg
2013 / Such format. Much recognition.
Kabosu, photographed by Atsuko Sato; archive image via Know Your Meme.
Doge chronology and original photo attributionhttps://knowyourmeme.com/memes/doge Image file — source archivehttps://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/013/564/doge.jpg
2013 / This is fine.
Excerpt from K.C. Green’s Gunshow comic, published January 9, 2013; archive image via Know Your Meme.
History and documented exampleshttps://knowyourmeme.com/memes/this-is-fine Image file — source archivehttps://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/018/012/this_is_fine.jpeg
2015 / The Dress.
The Dress photograph shown in Automattic’s 2025 retrospective graphic; not a recreation of the dress.
TIME: reporting during the breakouthttps://time.com/3725625/dress-viral-internet-white-gold-blue-black/Retrospective with Cates Holdernesshttps://automattic.com/2025/02/26/the-dress-10-tumblr-cates-holderness/Image file — source archivehttps://i0.wp.com/automattic.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/blog-thumbnail03-b-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1
2017 / One pixel is a negotiation.
Original pixel study made for this page. It illustrates collaboration and is not a reproduction of an r/place canvas.
Read Reddit’s r/place accounthttps://redditinc.com/news/april-fools-on-reddit-is-no-joke-bringing-back-r-place
2017 / Distracted Boyfriend.
The source stock photograph by Antonio Guillem, 2015; archive image via Know Your Meme.
History and documented exampleshttps://knowyourmeme.com/memes/distracted-boyfriend Image file — source archivehttps://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/023/732/damngina.jpg
2019 / Woman yelling at a cat.
The paired Real Housewives reaction and Smudge photograph; archive image via Know Your Meme.
History and documented exampleshttps://time.com/5762380/woman-yelling-at-cat-meme/Image archive and contexthttps://knowyourmeme.com/memes/woman-yelling-at-a-cat Image file — source archivehttps://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/030/157/womanyellingcat.jpg
2020 / Coffin Dance.
Ghanaian dancing pallbearers; archive video still via Know Your Meme.
History and documented exampleshttps://knowyourmeme.com/memes/coffin-dance-dancing-pallbearers Image file — source archivehttps://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/033/381/dancing_coffin.jpg
2021 / Bernie’s mittens.
Bernie Sanders at the 2021 inauguration, photographed by Brendan Smialowski / AFP; archive image via Know Your Meme.
NPR reporting: the meme and charity fundraisinghttps://www.nhpr.org/2021-01-28/mittens-memes-of-bernie-sanders-raise-money-for-vermont-charities Image archive and contexthttps://knowyourmeme.com/memes/bernie-sanders-in-a-chair Image file — source archivehttps://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/036/345/EsMANJkW4AYbmvv.jpeg
2023 / Skibidi Toilet.
Scenes from DaFuq!?Boom!’s Skibidi Toilet series; archive montage via Know Your Meme.
History and documented exampleshttps://knowyourmeme.com/memes/subcultures/skibidi-toilet Image archive and contexthttps://knowyourmeme.com/memes/skibidi-toilet Image file — source archivehttps://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/045/027/skibcover.jpg
2024 / Now we have a name for the feeling.
Original typographic graphic. “Brain rot” is the 2024 Oxford Word of the Year, not a diagnosis or the invention date of the phrase.
Oxford’s announcementhttps://corp.oup.com/news/brain-rot-named-oxford-word-of-the-year-2024/
2025 / The remix gets a stranger toolkit.
Archive montage of Italian brainrot characters, via Know Your Meme. These are examples of the 2025 genre, not newly generated artwork for this page.
2025 research: characters, images and narrationhttps://aclanthology.org/2025.clicit-1.40/Character examples and chronologyhttps://knowyourmeme.com/memes/italian-brainrot-ai-italian-animals Image file — source archivehttps://i.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/053/526/Italian_Brainrot_memes_cover.jpg
2026 / The joke opens the story.
Original Meme Daily News illustration, October 30, 2026. A classic meme setup, reimagined for the startup world.
Read the actual MDN storyhttps://www.memedailynews.com/story/greg-isenberg-warns-founders-about-fake-arr-claims-73b82bf1

The joke that became a language.

Every era has a tell.

Expectation vs. reality, before the web.

What changed

Dawkins names the concept.

What changed

Three characters. A whole tone.

What changed

Kaomoji: a face you read upright.

What changed

Godwin’s Law.

What changed

Eternal September.

What changed

Good Times: the warning was the virus.

What changed

The Dancing Baby goes viral.

What changed

Hampster Dance.

What changed

All Your Base Are Belong to Us.

What changed

Peanut Butter Jelly Time.

What changed

Badger, badger, badger.

What changed

Numa Numa.

What changed

Leeroy Jenkins.

What changed

Evolution of Dance.

What changed

You know the rules.

What changed

LOLcats: a shared caption language.

What changed

Trollface and rage comics.

What changed

Nyan Cat.

What changed

Grumpy Cat. One face, endless situations.

What changed

Such format. Much recognition.

What changed

This is fine.

What changed

The Dress.

What changed

One pixel is a negotiation.

What changed

Distracted Boyfriend.

What changed

Woman yelling at a cat.

What changed

Coffin Dance.

What changed

Bernie’s mittens.

What changed

Skibidi Toilet.

What changed

Now we have a name for the feeling.

What changed

The remix gets a stranger toolkit.

What changed

The joke opens the story.

What changed

Reddit is a lens. The internet is the canvas.

r/memes

“Meet Grumpy Cat”

r/place

2026. Same grammar. New headlines.

Someone else’s ARR is not your deadline.

New software. Familiar business model.

The next chapter is still being posted.

The history has sources.

A note on the timeline

Artwork & credits

Community illustration reference

The joke
that became
a language.

Reddit is a lens.
The internet is
the canvas.

2026. Same grammar.
New headlines.