Five years ago last May, after months of late nights, testing and preparation, YouTube’s founders launched the first beta version of YouTube.com with a simple mission: give anyone a place to easily upload their videos and share them with the world.

Whether you were an aspiring filmmaker, a politician, a proud parent, or someone who just wanted to connect with something bigger, YouTube became the place where you could broadcast yourself.

Over time, these beliefs created a vibrant and inspiring community that helped transform a murmur of interest into something far greater than any of us ever could have imagined.

Today, the site now exceeds over two billion views a day, nearly double the prime-time audience of all three major U.S. television networks combined.

What started as a site for bedroom vloggers and viral videos has evolved into a global platform that supports HD and 3D, broadcasts entire sports seasons live to over 200 countries, brings feature films from Hollywood studios and independent filmmakers to far-flung audiences, documents social unrests seeking to transform societies, and streams interviews with leading political figures to the world.

Over the Christmas period we decided to take a look at the 25 most memorable videos, in other words, the ones which made YouTube history.

Barack Obama - Yes We Can:

Cut from the original 13 minute long speech, Barack Obama's 'Yes We Can' video has nearly 25 million hits since first airing in February 2008.

The extraordinary pop video, put together by music producer Will.i.am was one of the contributing factors to Obama's charge to the White House, demonstrating the key influences of the internet in modern day life.