Today is the one year anniversary of Harambe’s death, so here’s a look back at the history of Harambe memes

If somehow you haven’t been on the internet for the last 365 days,  Haramabe was a 17-year-old western gorilla that lived in Cincinnati Zoo.

On May 28^th 2016, a three-year-old boy fell ginto the gorilla enclosure, and fearing for the infant’s safety, a zoo employee shot and killed Harambe when he picked the child. The incident was controversial – the child survived unharmed, but a seemingly innocent animal was killed. It raised questions about whether we should even be keeping animals like Harambe in captivity. It was a complicated and nuanced situation. Of course, the internet didn’t see it like that. After an initial burst of outrage from genuinely angry environmentalists, Harambe became one massive in- joke, the ultimate meme. Whereas most memes are increasingly quickly co-opted by brands and business, the Harambe meme was still about the death of an animal. It was too morbid for anyone to want to monetise, so the meme lived on, getting weirder and weirder. https://twitter.com/dudethings4guys/status/740372965993353217 https://twitter.com/HayesBrown/status/767723216500654080 http://imgur.com/9sV8f5p  

It began to spill out into the real world.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BIFy-gjDoEN/  

The Cincinnati Zoo had to shut down its social media, because it was getting to clogged up with abuse and memelords.

A prank led to Google Maps briefly renaming a street after Harambe.

https://twitter.com/gallagherc_/status/756689188813144064

Someone bid an extortionate amount of money for a Cheeto shaped like Harambe on eBay (but probably didn't actually pay for it).

https://twitter.com/darrenrovell/status/829027012941578244  

People even reportedly voted for Harambe as a write-in candidate in the 2016 US election.

https://twitter.com/David_Leavitt/status/796239651296215041 https://twitter.com/THOTJAI/status/796146603996254208  

But the strangest mutation was probably 'Dicks Out For Harambe'.

If you missed it, it was exactly what it sounds like: a campaign for you to get you penis out in memory of the late ape. It reached it's apex when Vine was uploaded featuring none other than the actor Danny Trejo saying the phrase. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTBftExjXuU   And the Harambe meme is still going strong. It would seem in death, he has found his own kind of immortality. Sleep well, fair prince.