From lip-sync videos to $1.65 billion in 14 months.

Last week, Google bought the year-old video site YouTube for an absurd-sounding $1.65 billion. YouTube's rise from indie Web site to the Internet's top TV channel—it now streams 100 million videos per day—happened so fast that only the most obsessive surfers have followed its entire arc. If you're just now becoming aware of the site's existence, here are a few milestones that will help you understand where YouTube's been and where it's headed.

Click here to open a video slide show on the short history of YouTube. (Please note that the videos will take a few seconds to load.)