{
 "name": "The oldest memes on the internet",
 "description": "What was the first meme? From a 1921 cartoon and the 1982 :-) to the Dancing Baby, the Hampster Dance and the Rickroll: the oldest memes, dated, with sources.",
 "url": "https://trymstene.com/oldest-internet-memes/",
 "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
 "creator": {
  "name": "Trym Stene",
  "url": "https://trymstene.com/me/"
 },
 "date_modified": "2026-10-25",
 "memes": [
  {
   "name": "The 1921 “first meme” cartoon",
   "year": 1921,
   "date": "1921-05",
   "era": "Before the internet",
   "made_by": "An unknown cartoonist, for a student humour magazine",
   "where_it_started": "The Wisconsin Octopus, the University of Wisconsin’s humour magazine",
   "what_it_was": "A two-panel cartoon",
   "summary": "A two-panel cartoon from May 1921, “how you think you look” beside how you really look, went viral in 2018 as “the first meme”.",
   "url": "https://trymstene.com/oldest-internet-memes/first-meme-1921/",
   "wikipedia": "",
   "wikidata": "",
   "sources": [
    "https://news.wisc.edu/uw-madison-throwback-meme-discovery-made/",
    "https://www.bbc.com/news/blogs-trending-43783521",
    "https://time.com/5241498/how-you-think-you-look-meme/",
    "https://www.vice.com/en/article/meme-1921-expectation-vs-reality-judge-magazine-comic-twitter/",
    "https://onwisconsin.uwalumni.com/a-100-year-old-meme/"
   ]
  },
  {
   "name": "Kilroy was here",
   "year": 1945,
   "date": "1945",
   "era": "Before the internet",
   "made_by": "Unknown US servicemen; the face came from Britain’s Mr Chad",
   "where_it_started": "Walls, ships and vehicles wherever US troops went in the Second World War",
   "what_it_was": "A doodle and a line of graffiti",
   "summary": "A doodle of a long-nosed face peeking over a wall, signed “Kilroy was here”, that soldiers left on walls and equipment around the world in the 1940s.",
   "url": "https://trymstene.com/oldest-internet-memes/kilroy-was-here/",
   "wikipedia": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilroy_was_here",
   "wikidata": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q597180",
   "sources": [
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilroy_was_here",
    "https://www.nps.gov/places/https-www-nps-gov-wwii-kilroy-was-here.htm",
    "https://wordorigins.org/big-list-entries/kilroy-was-here",
    "https://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-kil1.htm",
    "https://www.wbur.org/endlessthread/2021/10/01/memes-kilroy"
   ]
  },
  {
   "name": "The first smiley :-)",
   "year": 1982,
   "date": "1982-09-19",
   "era": "Message boards and Usenet",
   "made_by": "Scott Fahlman, a computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon University",
   "where_it_started": "A message board at Carnegie Mellon University",
   "what_it_was": "Three typed characters, read sideways",
   "summary": "Scott Fahlman suggested :-) to mark jokes on a Carnegie Mellon message board in 1982, and within months it had spread across the network.",
   "url": "https://trymstene.com/oldest-internet-memes/first-emoticon/",
   "wikipedia": "",
   "wikidata": "",
   "sources": [
    "https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~sef/Orig-Smiley.htm",
    "https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~sef/sefSmiley.htm",
    "https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~sef/Smiley2021.pdf",
    "https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/first-digital-emoticon",
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emoticon"
   ]
  },
  {
   "name": "Godwin’s law",
   "year": 1990,
   "date": "1990",
   "era": "Message boards and Usenet",
   "made_by": "Mike Godwin, a lawyer and writer",
   "where_it_started": "Usenet newsgroups",
   "what_it_was": "A rule, posted as a reply",
   "summary": "Mike Godwin’s 1990 rule: the longer an online argument runs, the likelier someone compares someone to Hitler. He spread it on purpose.",
   "url": "https://trymstene.com/oldest-internet-memes/godwins-law/",
   "wikipedia": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law",
   "wikidata": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q154619",
   "sources": [
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Godwin%27s_law",
    "https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/godwins-law",
    "https://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2016/12/nazis-hitler-origin-godwins-law/",
    "https://time.com/4837881/godwin-law-interview-2017/",
    "https://slate.com/technology/2022/01/godwins-law-research-disproven-history.html"
   ]
  },
  {
   "name": "The Exploding Whale",
   "year": 1990,
   "date": "1990",
   "era": "Message boards and Usenet",
   "made_by": "Oregon highway workers, filmed by a Portland TV crew",
   "where_it_started": "A KATU-TV news report from Florence, Oregon, in 1970",
   "what_it_was": "A 1970 TV news clip, passed around online",
   "summary": "Oregon road workers blew up a dead whale with dynamite in 1970; after a 1990 newspaper column was copied onto bulletin boards, the clip spread.",
   "url": "https://trymstene.com/oldest-internet-memes/exploding-whale/",
   "wikipedia": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_whale",
   "wikidata": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q718694",
   "sources": [
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_whale",
    "https://katu.com/news/local/the-exploding-whale-50th-anniversary-of-legendary-oregon-event",
    "https://www.kpbs.org/news/2013/11/01/man-behind-oregons-famous-exploding-whale-dies",
    "https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/625499/florence-oregon-exploding-whale-1970",
    "https://globalnews.ca/news/7075693/exploding-whale-park-memorial-park-oregon-florence/"
   ]
  },
  {
   "name": "Spam",
   "year": 1993,
   "date": "1993-03-31",
   "era": "Message boards and Usenet",
   "made_by": "Usenet users, borrowing from a 1970 Monty Python sketch",
   "where_it_started": "Online games and Usenet newsgroups",
   "what_it_was": "A word: an in-joke that stuck",
   "summary": "Early net users borrowed spam from a 1970 Monty Python sketch to mock message floods, and after a 1994 Usenet advert it became everyone’s word.",
   "url": "https://trymstene.com/oldest-internet-memes/spam/",
   "wikipedia": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spamming",
   "wikidata": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q83058",
   "sources": [
    "https://www.templetons.com/brad/spamterm.html",
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spam_(Monty_Python_sketch)",
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laurence_Canter_and_Martha_Siegel",
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spamming",
    "https://rcpmag.com/Articles/2003/10/01/Thank-You-Hormel.aspx"
   ]
  },
  {
   "name": "The Dancing Baby",
   "year": 1996,
   "date": "1996",
   "era": "The early web",
   "made_by": "The team at Unreal Pictures, as a demo for the software Character Studio",
   "where_it_started": "A sample file in 3D animation software, then email",
   "what_it_was": "A 3D animation, passed around as an animated GIF",
   "summary": "A 3D baby doing the cha-cha, made as a sample file for animation software in 1996, spread by email and danced onto TV’s Ally McBeal.",
   "url": "https://trymstene.com/oldest-internet-memes/dancing-baby/",
   "wikipedia": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_baby",
   "wikidata": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3401272",
   "sources": [
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dancing_baby",
    "https://www.mentalfloss.com/entertainment/tv/ally-mcbeal-dancing-baby-cha-history",
    "https://knowyourmeme.com/editorials/interviews/dancing-baby-creator-michael-girard-discusses-designing-the-first-internet-meme-26-years-after-it-swept-the-web-via-email-chains",
    "https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/the-web/20/403/2362",
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ally_McBeal_episodes"
   ]
  },
  {
   "name": "Bert is Evil",
   "year": 1996,
   "date": "1996",
   "era": "The early web",
   "made_by": "Dino Ignacio, a web designer from the Philippines",
   "where_it_started": "Dino Ignacio’s personal website",
   "what_it_was": "A website of doctored photos",
   "summary": "Dino Ignacio’s joke site of doctored photos “proving” Sesame Street’s Bert was evil won a 1998 Webby and spread through dozens of mirror sites.",
   "url": "https://trymstene.com/oldest-internet-memes/bert-is-evil/",
   "wikipedia": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_is_Evil",
   "wikidata": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q827513",
   "sources": [
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bert_is_Evil",
    "https://winners.webbyawards.com/1998/websites-and-mobile-sites/general-websites-and-mobile-sites/weird/142387/bert-is-evil",
    "https://rrchnm.org/essay/scarcity-or-abundance-preserving-the-past-in-a-digital-era/",
    "https://www.theglobeandmail.com/technology/bert-and-osama-together-on-a-placard/article1185678",
    "https://reason.com/2002/01/01/bert-and-the-infidels-2/"
   ]
  },
  {
   "name": "Mr. T Ate My Balls",
   "year": 1996,
   "date": "1996",
   "era": "The early web",
   "made_by": "Nehal Patel, a student at the University of Illinois",
   "where_it_started": "A student’s page on a university web server",
   "what_it_was": "A joke web page, copied for other celebrities",
   "summary": "A University of Illinois student’s joke page about Mr. T was copied hundreds of times, for other celebrities, across the late-1990s web.",
   "url": "https://trymstene.com/oldest-internet-memes/mr-t-ate-my-balls/",
   "wikipedia": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ate_my_balls",
   "wikidata": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q96372496",
   "sources": [
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ate_my_balls",
    "https://www.salon.com/1997/08/10/balls_2/"
   ]
  },
  {
   "name": "The Hampster Dance",
   "year": 1998,
   "date": "1998",
   "era": "The early web",
   "made_by": "Deidre LaCarte, a student in British Columbia",
   "where_it_started": "A home page on GeoCities",
   "what_it_was": "A web page of dancing GIFs and a looping song",
   "summary": "Deidre LaCarte’s GeoCities page of dancing hamster GIFs, looping a sped-up song from Disney’s Robin Hood, sat unvisited until email made it explode.",
   "url": "https://trymstene.com/oldest-internet-memes/hampster-dance/",
   "wikipedia": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hampster_Dance",
   "wikidata": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1573974",
   "sources": [
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hampster_Dance",
    "https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/hampster-dance",
    "https://www.chiefmarketer.com/e-rodents-do-a-little-dance/",
    "https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/the-web/20/403/2361",
    "https://news.slashdot.org/story/18/12/29/0227257/how-one-merchandiser-lost-1m-trying-to-monetize-the-hamster-dance-site"
   ]
  },
  {
   "name": "The Dancing Banana",
   "year": 1999,
   "date": "1999",
   "era": "The early web",
   "made_by": "Trym Stene",
   "where_it_started": "Web forums, as a celebration emoticon",
   "what_it_was": "An animated pixel GIF",
   "summary": "Trym Stene animated a pixel banana as a celebration emoticon for web forums; years later a Flash video set it to Peanut Butter Jelly Time.",
   "url": "https://trymstene.com/dancing-banana-gif-meme/",
   "wikipedia": "",
   "wikidata": "",
   "sources": []
  },
  {
   "name": "Mahir: “I kiss you!”",
   "year": 1999,
   "date": "1999",
   "era": "The early web",
   "made_by": "Mahir Çağrı, with lines a prankster is said to have added",
   "where_it_started": "His personal home page on a free web host",
   "what_it_was": "A personal home page",
   "summary": "Mahir Çağrı’s cheerful home page in broken English, signed off “I kiss you!”, was forwarded by email in late 1999 and drew 700,000 visitors in a week.",
   "url": "https://trymstene.com/oldest-internet-memes/mahir-i-kiss-you/",
   "wikipedia": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahir_%C3%87a%C4%9Fr%C4%B1",
   "wikidata": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3090597",
   "sources": [
    "https://www.salon.com/1999/11/04/mahir/",
    "https://www.salon.com/1999/12/16/mahir_2/",
    "https://hoaxes.org/mahir.html",
    "https://www.dailysabah.com/turkey/turkeys-1st-internet-celebrity-eschews-social-media/news/amp",
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahir_%C3%87a%C4%9Fr%C4%B1"
   ]
  },
  {
   "name": "All your base are belong to us",
   "year": 1999,
   "date": "1999",
   "era": "The early web",
   "made_by": "A garbled line in the 1991 game Zero Wing, remixed by gamers",
   "where_it_started": "Gaming sites, as an animated GIF of the game’s opening",
   "what_it_was": "A mistranslated video game line",
   "summary": "A garbled line from the 1991 English version of the game Zero Wing went around gaming sites as a GIF, then a February 2001 Flash video made it global.",
   "url": "https://trymstene.com/oldest-internet-memes/all-your-base-are-belong-to-us/",
   "wikipedia": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_your_base_are_belong_to_us",
   "wikidata": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q54",
   "sources": [
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_your_base_are_belong_to_us",
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero_Wing",
    "https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/all-your-base-are-belong-to-us",
    "https://web.mit.edu/cms.920/www/critiques/allyourbase.html",
    "https://listserv.linguistlist.org/pipermail/ads-l/2001-March/013401.html"
   ]
  },
  {
   "name": "Peanut Butter Jelly Time",
   "year": 2002,
   "date": "2002",
   "era": "The Flash years",
   "made_by": "The Buckwheat Boyz’ song, Trym Stene’s banana, someone else’s Flash",
   "where_it_started": "Flash animation sites",
   "what_it_was": "A Flash animation",
   "summary": "A Flash cartoon set the dancing banana to The Buckwheat Boyz’ song; it spread across Flash sites and reached NBC’s Ed in 2002.",
   "url": "https://trymstene.com/peanut-butter-jelly-time/",
   "wikipedia": "",
   "wikidata": "",
   "sources": []
  },
  {
   "name": "Star Wars Kid",
   "year": 2003,
   "date": "2003-04",
   "era": "The Flash years",
   "made_by": "Ghyslain Raza filmed it alone; classmates posted it without asking him",
   "where_it_started": "The Kazaa file-sharing network, then blogs",
   "what_it_was": "A home video, passed around as a file",
   "summary": "A Quebec teenager’s private video of himself swinging a golf-ball retriever like a lightsaber was shared by classmates in 2003 and spread worldwide.",
   "url": "https://trymstene.com/oldest-internet-memes/star-wars-kid/",
   "wikipedia": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Kid",
   "wikidata": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q656193",
   "sources": [
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars_Kid",
    "https://lactualite.com/societe/le-retour-de-star-wars-kid/",
    "https://waxy.org/2003/05/finding_the_sta/",
    "https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6187554.stm",
    "https://www.nfb.ca/film/star-wars-kid-the-rise-of-the-digital-shadows/"
   ]
  },
  {
   "name": "O RLY?",
   "year": 2003,
   "date": "2003-08",
   "era": "The Flash years",
   "made_by": "Forum users, captioning a 2001 photo by John White",
   "where_it_started": "The Something Awful forums, then 4chan",
   "what_it_was": "A captioned picture, posted as a reply",
   "summary": "A photo of a snowy owl captioned O RLY?, oh really, became a sarcastic reply on forums from 2003, and one of the first reaction pictures people knew.",
   "url": "https://trymstene.com/oldest-internet-memes/o-rly/",
   "wikipedia": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_RLY%3F",
   "wikidata": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2328161",
   "sources": [
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_RLY%3F",
    "https://www.npr.org/2006/05/16/5409152/o-rly-worm-confirms-faith-in-humanity",
    "https://www.itnews.com.au/news/new-worm-hoots-at-users-64758",
    "https://www.wired.com/2008/01/14-pop-culture/"
   ]
  },
  {
   "name": "Badger Badger Badger",
   "year": 2003,
   "date": "2003-09",
   "era": "The Flash years",
   "made_by": "Jonti Picking, the British animator known as Weebl",
   "where_it_started": "B3ta.com, a British humour site, then Weebl’s own site",
   "what_it_was": "A Flash cartoon that loops forever",
   "summary": "Jonti Picking’s Flash loop of exercising badgers, a mushroom and a snake, chanted over a dance beat, went around the web by email and forums.",
   "url": "https://trymstene.com/oldest-internet-memes/badger-badger-badger/",
   "wikipedia": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badgers_(animation)",
   "wikidata": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q799007",
   "sources": [
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Badgers_(animation)",
    "https://www.fasthosts.co.uk/blog/the-lost-era-of-memes/",
    "https://replay.bfi.org.uk/video/fe55f1ff-bd71-5f02-8f89-6d6829c75d0d",
    "https://boingboing.net/2026/05/19/the-uk-has-formally-declared-badger-badger-badger-worthy-of-preservation.html",
    "https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/aug/30/badger-protest-song-brian-may"
   ]
  },
  {
   "name": "Numa Numa",
   "year": 2004,
   "date": "2004-12-06",
   "era": "The Flash years",
   "made_by": "Gary Brolsma, lip-syncing to O-Zone’s song Dragostea din tei",
   "where_it_started": "Newgrounds, the Flash animation site",
   "what_it_was": "A webcam video",
   "summary": "Gary Brolsma filmed himself on his webcam, lip-syncing joyfully in his chair to O-Zone’s Dragostea din tei, and the clip spread from Newgrounds.",
   "url": "https://trymstene.com/oldest-internet-memes/numa-numa/",
   "wikipedia": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numa_Numa",
   "wikidata": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2396344",
   "sources": [
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numa_Numa",
    "https://consequence.net/2023/01/numa-numa-dance-video-interview-viral-vault/",
    "https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6187554.stm",
    "https://www.dailydot.com/memes/numa-numa-turns-12",
    "https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/numa-numa"
   ]
  },
  {
   "name": "Chuck Norris facts",
   "year": 2005,
   "date": "2005",
   "era": "Video and captioned pictures",
   "made_by": "Ian Spector’s random fact generator, filled by its visitors",
   "where_it_started": "A forum thread of Vin Diesel facts, then Ian Spector’s website",
   "what_it_was": "Made-up facts, one at a time on a web page",
   "summary": "Made-up, wildly exaggerated facts about Chuck Norris’s toughness, from Ian Spector’s 2005 fact generator, copied and emailed around the world.",
   "url": "https://trymstene.com/oldest-internet-memes/chuck-norris-facts/",
   "wikipedia": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Norris_facts",
   "wikidata": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q937633",
   "sources": [
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chuck_Norris_facts",
    "https://www.browndailyherald.com/article/2006/01/the-spector-behind-those-randomly-generated-facts",
    "https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,1172246-2,00.html",
    "https://www.kptv.com/2026/03/20/chuck-norris-dead-86-family-says/",
    "https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/chuck-norris-facts"
   ]
  },
  {
   "name": "Leeroy Jenkins",
   "year": 2005,
   "date": "2005-05-11",
   "era": "Video and captioned pictures",
   "made_by": "Ben Schulz and his World of Warcraft guild, PALS FOR LIFE",
   "where_it_started": "WarcraftMovies.com, a fan site for game videos",
   "what_it_was": "A recording of a video game",
   "summary": "In a 2005 World of Warcraft video, a player shouts his own name and charges in alone, wrecking his group’s plan; it went from gaming sites to TV.",
   "url": "https://trymstene.com/oldest-internet-memes/leeroy-jenkins/",
   "wikipedia": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leeroy_Jenkins",
   "wikidata": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q389312",
   "sources": [
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leeroy_Jenkins",
    "https://www.warcraftmovies.com/movieview.php?id=1666",
    "https://j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=615",
    "https://kotaku.com/the-makers-of-leeroy-jenkins-didnt-think-anyone-would-b-1821570730",
    "https://www.engadget.com/2011-06-28-wow-archivist-the-legacy-of-leeroy-jenkins.html"
   ]
  },
  {
   "name": "LOLcats and I Can Has Cheezburger?",
   "year": 2007,
   "date": "2007-01-11",
   "era": "Video and captioned pictures",
   "made_by": "Image board users, then Eric Nakagawa and Kari Unebasami’s blog",
   "where_it_started": "Caturday threads on 4chan, then the blog I Can Has Cheezburger?",
   "what_it_was": "Cat photos with misspelled captions",
   "summary": "Cat photos with misspelled captions spread on 4chan from about 2005; the blog I Can Has Cheezburger?, started in January 2007, took them mainstream.",
   "url": "https://trymstene.com/oldest-internet-memes/lolcats/",
   "wikipedia": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolcat",
   "wikidata": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q56",
   "sources": [
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lolcat",
    "https://time.com/archive/6681567/creating-a-cute-cat-frenzy/",
    "https://www.wired.com/2008/04/behind-the-me-3/",
    "https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-dec-16-ca-lolcat16-story.html"
   ]
  },
  {
   "name": "The Rickroll",
   "year": 2007,
   "date": "2007-05-15",
   "era": "Video and captioned pictures",
   "made_by": "Shawn Cotter, the first to post the link, and Rick Astley’s 1987 song",
   "where_it_started": "4chan, as a link to a fake video game trailer",
   "what_it_was": "A bait-and-switch link",
   "summary": "A prank link that promises something else and plays Rick Astley’s 1987 Never Gonna Give You Up instead; it began on 4chan in 2007 and peaked in 2008.",
   "url": "https://trymstene.com/oldest-internet-memes/rickroll/",
   "wikipedia": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rickrolling",
   "wikidata": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q695677",
   "sources": [
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rickrolling",
    "https://observer.com/2012/09/meet-shawn-cotter-the-man-behind-the-rickroll/",
    "https://www.wired.com/2008/04/youtube-rickrol/",
    "https://melmagazine.com/en-us/story/an-oral-history-of-rickrolling",
    "https://variety.com/2021/digital/news/rick-astley-never-gonna-give-you-up-1-billion-youtube-views-1235030404/"
   ]
  },
  {
   "name": "Dramatic Chipmunk",
   "year": 2007,
   "date": "2007-06-06",
   "era": "Video and captioned pictures",
   "made_by": "A YouTube user, cutting a moment from Japanese TV",
   "where_it_started": "YouTube, then the front page of CollegeHumor",
   "what_it_was": "A five-second video clip",
   "summary": "A five-second clip from Japanese TV of a prairie dog whipping its head round to a dramatic music sting spread on YouTube and CollegeHumor in 2007.",
   "url": "https://trymstene.com/oldest-internet-memes/dramatic-chipmunk/",
   "wikipedia": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dramatic_Chipmunk",
   "wikidata": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q5305757",
   "sources": [
    "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dramatic_Chipmunk",
    "https://boingboing.net/2007/06/20/dramatic-chipmunk.html",
    "https://www.theguardian.com/music/2022/jan/18/dun-dun-duuun-where-did-pop-cultures-most-dramatic-sound-come-from",
    "https://gophersports.com/sports/2019/10/16/the-rise-of-the-dramatic-gopher",
    "https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/dramatic-chipmunk"
   ]
  }
 ]
}