Happy 10th birthday, YouTube! Here's a look back at some of the most viewed video clips of all time
Happy 10th birthday, YouTube! Here's a look back at some of the most viewed video clips of all time cornnius, Free Images

Can you believe it has been a decade since the wonder that is YouTube graced our lives?

Ten years ago, if you wanted to listen to new music, you had to take a chance on MTV, head to the shops, or listen to the radio, and camcorders were mostly used by your parents to record painfully embarrassing family holidays.

But today, everything is different.

Apart from the latest music videos, you can happen upon lovingly preserved episodes of TV shows and concerts from 30 years ago that someone ripped from their VHS tapes, and people post useful reviews and tutorials on cooking, home DIY, gaming, make-up, crafting, hair styling and a million other things.

Companies explain how their solutions work on YouTube, activists campaign for better rights and civil liberties, and the past few years have also seen the rise of the YouTube star – video bloggers who become brands in themselves due to their unique content, garnering millions of fans and lots of ad revenue.

So, to celebrate YouTube's 10<sup>th birthday, relive key moments in internet history with this list of the 10 most viewed video clips of all time, as of 10 February 2015:

1. Psy's Gangnam Style

It is official - the most viewed video clip of all time on YouTube is Psy's Gangnam Style, with 2.24 billion views (probably more by the time you click on this). The success of this video might well have surprised Psy, a previously unknown South Korean rapper, the most, but we have to admit, his crazy antics, signature dance moves and exaggerated caricature of rich people in South Korea is pretty hilarious.

2. Baby by Justin Bieber, featuring Ludacris

At the height of Justin Bieber's fame, the then-angelic teenage heartthrob released Baby with Ludacris, which was the most viewed video clip of all time until Psy came along. Ironically for Bieber, this YouTube video also has the most number of "dislikes" of any clip on the website, including Rebecca Black's Friday.

3. LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem featuring Lauren Bennett & GoonRock

It is the post-apocalypse and a mere song has brought the world to a complete standstill. It can only be LMFAO's Party Rock Anthem, which also brought back the Shuffle, a dance move involving a large amount of jittering about, coupled with 1980's dance moves, such as the robot and Moonwalk.

4. Katy Perry's Dark Horse featuring Juicy J

Everybody loves ancient Egypt. Everybody. Of course, Dark Horse is a really good song too - it has sold 7.9 million copies worldwide and is one of the best-selling singles of all time. But we still think the incredible Egyptian sets, costumes and getting to see Juicy J turn into a dog helps.

5. Charlie Bit My Finger - Again!

Amazing - it is not a music video or a YouTube vlogger but a simple video of the Davies-Carr children, in which a little boy named Harry lets his baby brother Charlie bite his finger.

The video is only 55 seconds long and was only meant to be a documentation by the children's father of their growing up, but it has now had over 810 million views and was the most viewed video in 2009.

6. Eminem's Love The Way You Lie featuring Rihanna

Love The Way You Lie, a song about a couple's abusive relationship, came out in 2010 and is considered to be one of the best songs in Eminem's entire career. Winning several awards and earning five Grammy nominations, the video and song are influenced by both of the singers' past experiences with difficult relationships.

7. Jennifer Lopez's On The Floor featuring Pitbull

You have got to hand it to Jennifer Lopez for continuing to be able to turn it out despite having been in the music industry since 1999. Lopez's dance hit On the Floor is her most successful commercial hit to date. The video received acclaim for its choreography, styling and production values.

8. Shakira's Waka Waka

Shakira's Waka Waka was the official song of the 2010 Fifa World Cup held in South Africa with 806 million views.

It is the seventh most-watched video of all time on YouTube and the sixth most-watched music video, but was controversial at the time, as many South Africans were disappointed that a native artist had not been chosen by Fifa.

9. Katy Perry's Roar

In ninth place on this list is Roar by Katy Perry. Her song champions self-empowerment and standing up for oneself and is one of the best-selling singles of all time with sales of over 9.9 million units.

Check out her female Tarzan-inspired music video, where she tames a tiger and learns to live in the jungle.

10. Psy's Gentleman

While you would expect to see Miley Cyrus' Wrecking Ball on this list, it turns out cheeky Psy has pushed her out of the top 10 with his bonkers hit Gentleman, which is in much the same vein as Gangnam Style.

This video has also set several YouTube records, including "Most views in its first 24 hours", "Most views in any 24 hours", "Fastest music video to reach 100 million views", "Fastest overall video to reach 200 million views" and "Fastest music video to reach 300 million views".