The First GIF
No matter how you pronounce it, GIFs are central to the internet experience of many (if not most) people. But the Graphics Interchange Format is actually quite a bit older than the social media platforms on which it is popular. Its history can be traced all the way back to 1987.
It was developed by a team of programmers at CompuServe, who largely considered it to be the most versatile and overall best image format. The first GIF was created in 1987, though unfortunately, it didn’t survive. No one is quite sure what the first GIF depicted, but some former CompuServe employees think it was an airplane.