This Day in History:
Facebook Launches February 4, 2004 Initially called
"The Facebook," the site was
launched on this day by Harvard
sophomore Mark Zuckerberg. The Facebook was meant as
a social network for Harvard
attendees to connect with their classmates. Building on popularity of Zuckerberg's
FaceMash — which allowed male students
to vote on the attractiveness of women
students — the site was an instant success. By the end of the first day,
more than 1500 Harvard
students signed up. Today, Facebook has more
than 2.4 billion users worldwide. The platform continues to
stir controversy over privacy
and data sharing concerns.