As Facebook Files for Its IPO, a Look Back

It's hard to believe that Facebook has been around for less than eight years. Initially conceived as a way for Harvard students to socialize with each other, it rapidly transformed into the most influential online social network in the world, fundamentally changing the way hundreds of millions of people connect, relate to, and stalk each other.

On Thursday, the site that made it possible for you to reconnect with your third-grade girlfriend and unfriend your annoying cousin started its latest evolution into a publicly traded company. As its IPO filings offer a glimpse behind the blue curtain -- and the company's move points to the next iteration of the world's most loved (and hated) networking site -- we decided to take a look back at some of the high points in Facebook's brief but captivating history.

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