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.