Facebook first started at only twenty-one universities in the United Kingdom in October of 2005. From there, high school networks were extended invitations to join the social network, as well as employees of companies, such as Apple Inc. and Microsoft. Later that year, New Zealand and Ireland were incorporated into the website and in 2006, anyone that was thirteen and older with a valid email address was allowed to join. Three years later, in 2006, Facebook announce that it was about to set up its international headquarters in Dublin, Ireland.

On this day, July 21st, in 2010, Mark Zuckerberg announced that 500 million users all around the world were active on Facebook.

This same month, Facebook was ranked the top social network across eight different markets. It had also become the largest online photo host. In “The Facebook Blog,” Mark Zuckerberg stated that “This is an important milestone for all of you who have helped spread Facebook around the world. Now a lot more people have the opportunity to stay connected with the people they care about.”