December 18, 2013
This is how Hodl started, in a Bitcointalk forum post, by user GameKyuubi, he said why he was still "hodling" (unsold) in his post, "I AM HODLING", he already knew there was a misspelling, but decided that hodling was the best definition.
Since then, HODL has been used countless times to comment that in a price drop, don't sell, hold Hodl, or that the least risky way to own Bitcoin is with Hodl.