---
title: "Which came first, Harry Potter or Netflix?"
description: "Harry Potter and Netflix both date from 1997. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/harry-potter-vs-netflix/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, Harry Potter or Netflix?

**Which came first, Harry Potter or Netflix?: Both the same year**

Both 1997

Both arrived in 1997. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published in the UK. Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph founded a DVD rental-by-post company.

## Side by side

|  | Harry Potter | Netflix |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 1997 | 1997 |
| Date | 1997-06-26 | 1997-08-29 |
| Category | media | technology |
| What happened | Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was published in the UK. | Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph founded a DVD rental-by-post company. |

## 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.

## Netflix

Netflix was founded in August 1997, a year before Google, and posted DVDs for a decade before streaming launched in January 2007. The famous origin story — Hastings founding it after a $40 late fee on Apollo 13 — has been called a useful myth by co-founder Marc Randolph. Blockbuster declined to buy the company for $50 million in 2000.

## Common questions

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

Both date from 1997.

### When did Harry Potter start?

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

### When did Netflix start?

1997. Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph founded a DVD rental-by-post company.

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## Sources

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