How Did The Ice Bucket Challenge Begin? [Video]

It has clearly reached critical mass, but how did the Ice Bucket Challenge start?

The answer is a touching story with an inspiring message and the good news is it's working. Big time.

It's to the point where it is ubiquitous on my Facebook feed. Every third post is someone dumping ice over their heads and challenging someone else to do it. But where did the Ice Bucket Challenge start? ESPN tells the story of an athlete, and a disease he is way too young to have to deal with.

And unfortunately, the man who helped create the event, lost his life recently.

The good news is the event has become HUGE. Over 1.2 million Ice Bucket Challenge videos have been posted on YouTube since August 1st. ALS has received $13.3 million in donations since July 29th, compared with $1.7 million during the same period last year. ALS has 260,000 new donors. The challenge raised $16 million as of last night.