---
title: "Which came first, Facebook or Harry Potter?"
description: "Facebook vs Harry Potter: Harry Potter came first, by 7 years — 1997 against 2004. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/facebook-vs-harry-potter/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, Facebook or Harry Potter?

**Which came first, Facebook or Harry Potter?: Harry Potter**

1997 — 7 years before Facebook

Harry Potter came first, by 7 years. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published in the UK.

## Side by side

|  | Facebook | Harry Potter |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 2004 | 1997 |
| Date | 2004-02-04 | 1997-06-26 |
| Category | technology | media |
| What happened | TheFacebook launched for Harvard students only. | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published in the UK. |

## Facebook

Facebook launched on 4 February 2004 restricted to Harvard email addresses, opened to other universities through 2004 and 2005, and to anyone over 13 with an email address in September 2006. It is six years younger than Google and a year older than YouTube. Its predecessor Facemash, which compared students' photographs, was shut down by the university within days in 2003.

## Harry Potter

Bloomsbury published the first book in June 1997 with a print run of 500 copies, most of which went to libraries, after twelve other publishers had rejected the manuscript. The company's chairman gave the first chapter to his eight-year-old daughter, who demanded the rest. It came out the same year as Netflix was founded and a year before Google.

## Common questions

### Which came first, Facebook or Harry Potter?

Harry Potter, by 7 years — 1997 against 2004.

### When did Facebook start?

2004. TheFacebook launched for Harvard students only.

### When did Harry Potter start?

1997. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published in the UK.

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## Sources

- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]