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Creating a full social media calendar requires a lot of content ideas. Once you’ve worked on International Day of and a few of the latest trending topics, it’s easy to lose momentum. But one great way to fill out your calendar with interesting content is to check if the month contains any significant anniversaries relevant to your brand.
We’ve put together this list of digital marketing anniversaries to help businesses like ours – marketing, comms, tech and anyone else who’s interested!
It contains all the big moments:
- Social media platform firsts
- Viral moments
- Events in the history of the Internet
Explore each month and get inspired:
January Marketing Anniversaries
February Marketing Anniversaries
March Marketing Anniversaries
April Marketing Anniversaries
May Marketing Anniversaries
June Marketing Anniversaries
July Marketing Anniversaries
August Marketing Anniversaries
September Marketing Anniversaries
October Marketing Anniversaries
November Marketing Anniversaries
December Marketing Anniversaries
January Marketing Anniversaries
January 1, 1983: Considered the official birthday of the internet.
January 4, 2019: An egg overtook Kylie Jenner’s birth announcement as the most-liked photo on Instagram.
January 11, 2017: Salt Bae debuted on YouTube.
January 15, 2001: The launch of Wikipedia.
January 15, 2009: @jkrums tweeted ‘There’s a plane in the Hudson’ and helped establish social media as a news source.
January 16, 2007: Netflix transitioned to a streaming service.
January 16, 2011: The hashtag #selfie was used for the first time on Instagram.
January 17, 2017: Twitter shut down Vine.
January 24, 2009: WhatsApp was launched by Jan Koum and Brian Acton as a messaging app, which evolved into one of the most popular communication platforms worldwide.
January 24, 2013: Vine was launched by Rus Yusupov, Dom Hofmann and Colin Kroll.
February Marketing Anniversaries
February 1st, 2016: Mr Beast published his first viral video.
February 2, 1994: Yahoo! was founded.
February 4, 2004: Facebook (initially called Thefacebook) was launched.
February 15, 2005: The start of YouTube.
February 17, 2003: The first smartphone with a front-facing camera was released by Sony.
February 26, 2013: The term ‘Doge’ was first used in a meme.
February 26, 2016: An image of a blue and black – or white and gold – dress caused arguments worldwide.
now that it’s been 8 years can we all agree that this dress is black and blue pic.twitter.com/CJdWZgmypW
— ryan (@scubaryan_) October 22, 2023
March Marketing Anniversaries
March 3, 2014: Ellen DeGeneres posted her famous Oscars selfie on Twitter.
If only Bradley’s arm was longer. Best photo ever. #oscars pic.twitter.com/C9U5NOtGap
— Ellen DeGeneres (@EllenDeGeneres) March 3, 2014
March 12, 1989: Tim Berners-Lee submitted his proposal for the World Wide Web, outlining the concept of a global hypertext system.
March 15, 1985: The first ‘.com’ domain was claimed by Symbolics, Inc.
March 21, 2006: @jack posted the first-ever tweet.
March 24, 2005: The first ever video was uploaded to YouTube (‘Me at the zoo’).
March 2020: Twitter introduced “Fleets,” a disappearing content feature similar to Instagram Stories. However, Fleets was discontinued in August 2021.
April Marketing Anniversaries
April 1, 1984: The first Nike Air Jordans went on sale.
April 2, 2009: Google+ was discontinued.
April 4, 2017: A Pepsi commercial featuring Kendall Jenner became arguably the most infamous ad of all time.
April 13, 1993: The first graphical web browser, Mosaic, was released.
April 14, 2022: Elon Musk initiated an acquisition of Twitter.
April 23, 2006: Spotify was founded.
April 24, 2013: Facebook released “Facebook Home,” a user interface for Android phones that was intended to push the Facebook experience front and centre.
May Marketing Anniversaries
May 5, 2003: Google AdSense launches, allowing websites to earn revenue through contextual ads, transforming online advertising.
May 5, 2003: Reid Hoffman launched LinkedIn.
May 6, 2002: PayPal was acquired by eBay.
May 18, 2017: Launch of Instagram Live.
May 20, 2017: Backpack Kid introduced flossing on SNL.
@katyperrycrave idc that’s iconic and made history #katyperry #swishswish ♬ suono originale – katy crave
May 22, 2010: The first real-world Bitcoin transaction happened.
May 22, 2017: ‘Charlie bit my finger – again !’ was published on YouTube.
May 25, 2018: GDPR came into force.
May 27, 2003: The birth of WordPress.
May 28, 2016: Harambe the gorilla died but was immortalised in meme format.
June Marketing Anniversaries
June 18, 2018: Instagram introduced IGTV, its long-form video platform.
June 27, 2016: Facebook Live was launched to all users in a big moment for live-streaming.
June 28, 2011: Google launched Google+, which aimed to compete with Facebook and Twitter, although it was discontinued in 2019.
June 29, 2007: The first iPhone was released.
July Marketing Anniversaries
July 4, 1996: Hotmail became one of the first internet-based email platforms.
July 5, 1994: Amazon was founded.
July 6, 2026: Pokémon Go was released, popularising AR (Augmented Reality) in gaming.
July 10, 2008: Apple launched the app store, with 500 apps on offer.
July 13, 2013: The initial origin of the #BlackLivesMatter movement.
July 15, 2012: Gangnam Style by Psy got the world dancing.
July 16, 1995: Amazon sold its first book, marking the beginning of online retail.
July 25, 2015: The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge and the birth of trending challenges.
August Marketing Anniversaries
August 1, 2003 – MySpace, one of the first major social networking sites, was launched, influencing early social media trends.
August 1, 2018: The Google Medic algorithm update changed the SEO game.
August 2, 2016: Instagram launched the “Stories” feature, allowing users to post photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours, a concept popularised by Snapchat.
August 5, 2020: The first Instagram Reel was published.
August 6, 1991: The first website, created by Berners-Lee, went live at CERN.
August 6, 2020: The US Supreme Court ruled to ban TikTok if it was not sold.
August 22, 2017: Apple published its first #ShotoniPhone post on Instagram.
August 24, 1995: Windows 95 was launched and everyone started using the internet at home.
August 29, 1997: Netflix was founded, initially as a DVD rental service.
September Marketing Anniversaries
September 2011: Originally known as “Picaboo,” Snapchat introduced disappearing messages and photos, a new social media format.
September 3, 1995: eBay was founded.
September 4, 1996: Google was founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin.
September 7, 2008: Google Chrome was launched and quickly became one of the most popular web browsers.
September 13, 2002: The term ‘selfie’ was coined by an Australian man named Hopey.
September 15, 2016: TikTok (formerly Musical.ly) launched.
September 17, 2011: Rebecca Black’s ‘Friday’ came out.
September 22, 2013: Grumpy Cat became a meme after an appearance on Reddit.
October Marketing Anniversaries
Month of October, 2016: Mobile browsing overtook desktop browsing for the first time.
October 6, 2010: Instagram launched.
October 7, 2008: Spotify officially launched its platform.
October 9, 2012: Facebook acquired Instagram for $1 billion.
October 15, 2017: The #MeToo movement highlighted the power of social media in social justice.
If you’ve been sexually harassed or assaulted write ‘me too’ as a reply to this tweet. pic.twitter.com/k2oeCiUf9n
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) October 15, 2017
October 23, 2000: Google Adwords arrived.
October 26, 2016: The Mannequin Challenge took over the internet.
October 27, 1994: The first online ad was posted. It was a banner ad on a website that was a precursor to Wired.
October 29, 1969: The first message was sent over the ARPANET, marking the birth of the internet.
October 29, 2021: Mark Zuckerberg announced Meta and the Metaverse.
November Marketing Anniversaries
November 5, 2007: Android was unveiled by Google.
November 5, 2007: Tumblr, a microblogging and social networking site, was launched, allowing users to share multimedia content with ease.
November 9, 2017: ByteDance purchased Musical.ly to create what we now know as TikTok.
November 11, 2018: The term ‘nano-influencers’ was coined by the New York Times.
November 12, 2019: Disney+ joined the steaming service ranks.
November 18, 2011: Minecraft was released.
November 14, 1005: Google launched Google Analytics.
November 16, 2016: ‘Post-truth’ was named Oxford Dictionary’s word of the year.
November 30, 2022: ChatGPT was released.
December Marketing Anniversaries
December 4, 1995: JavaScript was first used on a website.
December 6, 1991: MP3s came into existence.
December 10, 2011: Pinterest launched.
December 15, 2009: Angry Birds was released and quickly became a marketing phenomenon.
December 28, 2022: Greta Thunberg roasted Andrew Tate in the 4th most-liked tweet/X of all time.
yes, please do enlighten me. email me at smalldickenergy@getalife.com https://t.co/V8geeVvEvg
— Greta Thunberg (@GretaThunberg) December 28, 2022
Marketing Anniversaries By Year
1971: The first email was sent by Ray Tomlinson.
1991: The first online banner ad appeared on HotWired.
1997: The term Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) came into use.
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Article by
Tess O'Bamber
