Charlie Bit My Finger

On May 22, 2007, Howard Davies-Carr uploaded a 56-second clip of his sons Harry, three, and Charlie, one. He wanted relatives abroad to be able to watch a file that was too large to send directly.

The scene is almost absurdly simple: Harry offers Charlie a finger, Charlie bites down, and Harry narrates the injury while his younger brother laughs. The title preserved Harry's instantly recognizable line: “Charlie bit my finger — again!”

The video grew through the link-sharing culture of early YouTube. It had millions of views in 2008, then passed Evolution of Dance in late October 2009 to become the platform's most-viewed video. Time placed it first in its 2010 list of YouTube's 50 best videos.

Its lines escaped the original upload through reenactments, remixes, advertisements, and pop-culture references. In May 2021 the family sold an NFT tied to the video for $760,999; the buyer ultimately chose not to demand its removal from YouTube.

The clip has a perfect comic arc without feeling staged: trust, bite, outrage, laughter, reluctant recovery. Harry explains every beat out loud, while Charlie's grin supplies the punchline. That clarity made the moment understandable across languages and easy to imitate.