This is just insane! I just read a report that Firefox has reached 50 million downloads. While the popularity is not that big of a shock, the 50 million mark is still quite a surprise I think.

Mozilla announced Friday that its Firefox Web browser had reached the 50 million download mark, less than six months after its official launch last November. The news comes just a day after research firm OneStat.com released its latest figures showing that Mozilla browsers are still gaining market share, although at a slower rate.

To celebrate the milestone, Spread Firefox, the promotions arm of the Mozilla Foundation, gave out commemorative medallions to selected users who sent in their stories of how they promoted the upstart browser.

The stories ranged from a 82-year-old Florida man who sent in a pictures of cookies he used to celebrate his birthday, to an 11-year-old boy who temporarily tattooed the Firefox logo to his forehead after seeing reports of people selling parts of their bodies on eBay to be tatooed with corporate logos. [Read the rest]