TED is a non-profit organization that began posting online in June 2006 (a year after the debut of YouTube) and is now celebrating their 1 BILLIONTH TEDTalk view.

TED is a nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with two annual conferences — the TED Conference in Long Beach and Palm Springs each spring, and the TEDGlobal conference in Edinburgh UK each summer — TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Project and TED Conversations, the inspiring TED Fellows and TEDx programs, and the annual TED Prize.

TEDTalks are 18-minute or less presentations from some of the world’s most remarkable people. TED Talks are being viewed at a rate of 1.5 million times a day — which means that a new viewing commences 17 times a second. TEDTalks really are “Ideas Worth Spreading” and I encourage anyone to hop over and take a look, you’re guaranteed to find something of interest. The site spans technology, entertainment, design, business, science, global issues, and more.

To celebrate TED has created Playlists, collections of talks people consistently show the most interest in. They’ve also compiled a list of curated favorites by people most of us with immediately recognize. Check them out below:

• Jill Bolte Taylor: 10 Talks on Human Nature
• Bill Gates: 13 Talks That Expanded My Worldview
• Reggie Watts: The 10 Talks That Most Boggled My Mind
• Ben Affleck: 8 Talks That Amazed Me
• Glenn Close: The 5 TEDTalks That Most Moved Me

If you’re curious you can view the talks that have been some my favorites.