New Delhi: Twitter, the micro blogging site, completes ten years of its existence today. It entered the world on March 21, 2006 and since then its gone public and amassed over 320 million active users.
On the day, the social network released a thank you note penned to its users around the world. The note is squeezed into a 140-character tweet, which is a reaffirmation of the company's commitment to the character limit.
We can’t deny the fact that Twittter’s – ‘140 characters’ have changed the way people communicate, express and take part in the happenings around.
The free service has become a go-to platform for politicians, entertainers, activists and everyday people and one of the top sources for breaking news.
Here are the top 10 tweets:
1. First tweet – 2006
Twitter co-founder and current CEO Jack Dorsey sent out his first tweet: "just setting up my twttr" on March 21, 2006.
2. First Hashtag -- 2007
The birth of the first #hashtag, by Chris Messina in the year 2007. The first hastagged word was #barcamp.
3. Ice on Mars -- 2008
NASA said there's ice in space, after the Phoenix Mars lander discovered patches of ice on Mars in 2008
4. Miracle on the Hudson – 2009
Twitter introduced the world to images soon after the Miracle on the Hudson. US Airways plane with 155 passengers onboard struck a bird on takeoff and miraculously landed in the Hudson River.
Twitter user Janis Krums, one of the first witnesses on the scene, broke the news on Twitter with an image.
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5. Tweet from Space -- 2010
Astronaut Timothy (TJ) Creamer sent the first live tweet from space, in January 2010: "Hello Twitterverse!"
6. Live Tweeting of Osama Killing -- 2011
Sohaib Athar, an IT consultant living in Abbottabad, Pakistan, unintentionally live tweeted the Osama killing after noticing the helicopters hovering in his neighbourhood.
It was actually the US Navy Seals raid that killed Osama bin Laden in May 2011.
7. Re-election of Obama – 2012
Barak Obama celebrated his re-election as the President of United States in 2012 with a historical tweet. It read "Four more years" and included a photo of him embracing the First Lady.
This tweet was the most retweeted post until 2014’s Oscar selfie happened.
8. Oscar Selfie – 2014
Ellen DeGeneres' Oscars selfie with A-list celebrities is the most retweeted tweet in the history of micro blogging site. It has been retweeted by over 3.3 million times.
9. #PrayForParis -- 2015
The terrorist attack in Paris in November 2015 that killed 130 people saw millions of people taking it to Twitter with hashtag #PrayForParis to show solidarity and peace.
Earlier, the attack on offices of the satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo in the city also created a world wide rage on Twitter.
10. Leonrado Dicaprio's Oscar win – 2016
Leonardo DiCaprio's Oscar win for Best Actor in February was a historical moment for Twitter as well. It caused a spike of 440,000 tweets a minute and broke DeGeneres' Oscar selfie record.
