390:, started to post his blogs. Martin died in October 2006 and received an outpouring of tributes from other YouTube users after his wife, Teresa, posted a video announcing his death. His widow temporarily took over his blogs but later closed this account. Another older person was Bernhard von Schwerin (1927-2022), who appeared under the name bernie1927. He too was a World War II veteran, but serving on the German side. He was encouraged by Oakley and talked about his youth and his many travels as well as his emigration to the U.S. in 1951.
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260:. In November of that year, he had 30,000 subscribers. Oakley also holds the record for being the first user on YouTube to reach the milestone of 25,000 subscribers. He uploaded 434 videos between 2006 and 2014 covering several topics from childhood memories to setting up a Google account. He also set up a second channel dedicated to music,
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In early 2010, entertainer Al
Chantrey—a friend of Oakley's and a fellow YouTube user—wrote and recorded a song for him which Oakley featured in several videos. The song, entitled 'Telling It All' (based on Oakley's video series) talks about Oakley's life. On 5 March 2014, Chantrey posted the song on
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On 17 August 2006, Oakley uploaded "Telling it all 7", in which he made a statement about how much attention he had received from the media over the previous days. He mentioned that this was not what he sought or wanted. He also stated that any websites using his username (geriatric1927) were in no
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His unforeseen rise was widely reported by international media outlets and online news sources and blogs. After resisting all media attention for a long time (including requests for interviews, photographs, and attempts to identify him), insisting that he only wished to converse with the YouTube
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way affiliated with him. In "Telling it all 7", he stated that he had received many messages from advertising companies, telephone companies, and newspaper companies that wanted to interview him, but he preferred to speak only to his fellow YouTubers, whom he considered his friends.
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28 days after achieving that status and was the first channel to achieve 20,000 subscribers. His rise to the #1 position took place in just over a week. In the process, he displaced users who had been around since the site's launch, including
345:, occurred as a consequence of the aptitudes his superiors detected in him. This role kept him out of combat, for which he was grateful because he did not have to witness "the horrors of war", but was nonetheless imperative for the
214:, a series of five-to-ten-minute autobiographical videos, Oakley gained popularity with a wide section of the YouTube community. Amongst the autobiographical details revealed in his videos are that he served as a
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Oakley was later diagnosed with cancer which was too far advanced for treatment. He posted his final video on 12 February 2014 and died a month later on the morning of 23 March 2014, aged 86.
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Oakley was featured in an installment of Yahoo! Current Buzz (which chronicles the top searches on the
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After Oakley's introductory video, which has been viewed over three million times, he began producing his autobiographical series,
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A period of tertiary education in
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was so inspired by Oakley's story that she dedicated a piece of artwork to him. The image is of Oakley to the lyrics of
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his channel on YouTube, accompanied by video footage of Peter as a tribute following the announcement of his illness.
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success inspired other older people, particularly men with life experiences to share, to begin posting
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He was conscripted into the Navy at 18 and became a radar technician and married his wife
Patricia...
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on them. Oakley influenced World War II veteran Martin H. Slobodkin (1920–2006), who, under the name
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On 16 February 2007, Oakley made his first television appearance, on a special episode of the BBC's
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Telling it all 7 - Something important to say youtube posting 17 August 2006
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Growing up during World War II, and living as a young teen in
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almost overnight, gaining mention in various media, such as
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His return to civilian life and the job he had left behind.
565:, BBC News, 27 November 2006 . Retrieved 29 December 2006.
796:"A tribute to Peter (Geriatric1927) - Telling It All"
677:"Peter Oakley, the 'Internet Grandad', dies aged 86"
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1027:British Army personnel of World War II
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563:What to watch on the web: Video Blogs
462:in September 2007, as a guest of the
202:and Internet personality, who posted
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992:Most Subscribed Channel on YouTube
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1057:YouTube channels launched in 2006
816:. video.yahoo.com. Archived from
576:"geriatric1927's Youtube profile"
358:His employment in Leicester as a
247:on YouTube, only to be passed by
688:from the original on 26 May 2022
483:Carter, Claire (26 March 2014).
1062:YouTube channels closed in 2014
654:"YouTube - Broadcast Yourself"
597:Pensioner tops web video clips
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772:. YouTube. 8 November 2009.
243:By mid-2006, Oakley was the
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959:Archive of official site
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518:"geriatric1927 - About"
245:most-subscribed channel
1042:English video bloggers
319:His experience in the
1032:British Army soldiers
546:"About geriatric1927"
240:on 16 February 2007.
236:, which was aired on
1047:People from Bakewell
877:. 26 February 2007.
708:"Geriatric1927Blues"
664:on 3 September 2006.
622:Simon & Schuster
470:Notes and references
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329:education 'extended'
281:. These made him an
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871:"Telling it all 44"
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128:YouTube information
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599:Alex Kumi,
448:Age Concern
436:Tim Samuels
432:The Zimmers
399:The Zimmers
388:MHarris1920
185:13 Aug 2024
176:11,416,057
165:Subscribers
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915:9 December
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496:28 January
362:inspector.
347:war effort
343:technician
102:Derbyshire
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67:1927-08-20
846:9 January
770:"Friends"
714:9 January
692:4 October
454:'s song "
442:classic "
440:The Who's
378:Oakley's
374:Influence
314:Luftwaffe
200:pensioner
113:2006–2014
104:, England
81:, England
986:Brookers
909:Archived
879:Archived
824:3 August
780:3 August
774:Archived
736:25 March
686:Archived
616:(2023).
582:3 August
287:BBC News
256:-signed
168:105,000
155:Vlogging
151:Genre(s)
98:Bakewell
905:YouTube
875:YouTube
757:YouTube
550:YouTube
522:YouTube
393:Artist
380:YouTube
321:primary
312:by the
306:Norwich
238:BBC Two
204:YouTube
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118:Spouse
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340:radar
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887:2016
848:2021
826:2010
782:2010
738:2014
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636:LCCN
626:ISBN
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529:2021
498:2020
464:AARP
323:and
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