Then And Now: Our Favorite Internet Memes

The Disaster Girl meme started in November 2007. The photo of a smiling little girl in front of a burning house may look sinister, but the story behind the photograph is innocent. Zoe Roth was just 4 when her father, Dave Roth, took the picture.

According to Know Your Meme, the family watched the local fire department during a training exercise from across the street when Roth snapped a photo of Zoe. In November 2007, Roth entered the pic in a JPG Magazine “Emotion Capture” photo contest and titled it “Firestarter”. It won first prize, and the rest is history.