A cat named Nyan

Originally called the Pop-Tart cat, this famous animated gif created by the artist Chris Torres became an internet phenomenon the instant it was posted online, 8 years ago. The cat was inspired by Marty, Torres's Russian Blue, and brought to life as part of a fundraiser for the Red Cross. Shaped liked a strawberry-flavoured Pop-Tart, the cat soars across a starlit sky, leaving a rainbow in its wake. When a YouTube user added an unforgettable soundtrack to the image, he was re-named “Nyan Cat”, a reference to “meow” in Japanese (pronounced “nya”). In 2011, the original clip was the 5th most-watched video on YouTube, with 1 million views. Since then, it's been viewed 167 million times, which doesn't include videos posted by other users. Based on the video's incredible popularity, the cat's growing set of derived products and adaptations, some say that “Nyan Cat” is the new “Hello Kitty”. (Pawsie)