Here are some of the most iconic tweets ever and Twitter's biggest moments over the years

Jordan Hart,Samantha DelouyaNov 19, 2022, 23:21 IST

Chesnot/Getty Images

Under Elon Musk's ownership, some Twitter users worry that the site may cease to be what it once was.
Twitter has been the center of many cultural moments in modern history, from #TheDress, to GameStop mania.

2006: Jack Dorsey sends the first-ever tweet.

First-ever tweetTwitter

2011: Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson first breaks the news that Osama bin Laden was killed via tweet.

Twitter

2012: Twitter buys video sharing service Vine for a reported $30 million.

App Annie

2013: Twitter goes public on the New York Stock Exchange.

Twitter Goes Public On The New York Stock ExchangeAndrew Burton/Getty Images

2013: The first #BlackLivesMatter tweet is posted.

Twitter

2014: The "Oscars selfie" taken by Ellen DeGeneres and fellow celebrities went on to become one of the most-retweeted photos to date.

Twitter

2015: Jack Dorsey returns as CEO for a second time, after stepping down in 2008.

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.Drew Angerer/Getty Images

2015: Twitter replaces the "Favorite" button with the "Like" button.

Twitter's heart-shaped "Like" buttonTwitter

2014: Leaked surveillance of Solange, Beyoncé, and Jay-Z elevator altercation surfaces.

Twitter

2015: The creation of #OscarsSoWhite allowed users to call out the Oscars for bias toward white nominees.

Twitter

2015: #TheDress optical illusion divides Twitter users on what colors they see.

Twitter

2016: Twitter experiences a multi-hour global outage caused by a glitch in a software update. People compared it to Twitter's early "fail whale" days when outages were common.

Twitter fail whaleTwitter

2016: Twitter experiences a multi-hour global outage caused by a glitch in a software update. People compared it to Twitter's early "fail whale" days when outages were common.

2016: Twitter shuts down Vine as it struggled to compete with Instagram and Snapchat.

Dribbble/jreed91

2016: Hillary Clinton tweets "Delete your account" to Trump during the 2016 presidential election.

Twitter

2017: Twitter upped the allowable character count on tweets from 140 characters to 280 characters.

Jack Dorsey tweet about 280 charactersJack Dorsey

2017: Alyssa Milano tweets about #MeToo and sparks a movement for sexual assault survivors.

Alyssa Milano

2017: President Trump tweets "Covfefe," and the internet tries to decode what he meant by it.

Twitter

2019: Collective freakout over the 'Cats' trailer.

Twitter

2019: "Sco pa tu manaa" meme used as a prompt to give your opinion.

Twitter

2019: The Game of Thrones series finale.

Twitter

2020: Twitter users mourn the death of Kobe Bryant.

Twitter

2020: Popular tweeter/comedian, Jaboukie, gets suspended from Twitter for impersonating CNN.

Twitter

2020: Everyone having to #StayInside at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Twitter

2020: Celebrities singing "Imagine" at the start of the covid-19 pandemic. Many on Twitter described it as "cringe."

Twitter

2020: Nationwide protests in response to the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

Twitter

2020: News of Chadwick Boseman's death breaks on Twitter.

Twitter

2020: "We did it, Joe," from Kamala Harris after Joe Biden won the presidential election.

Twitter

2021: #StopAsianHate movement on Twitter in response to increased violence against Asian-Americans.

Twitter

2021: January 6 insurrection in Washington DC. Many rioters posted videos of themselves entering the Capitol Building, which would be later used against them as criminal evidence.

Twitter

2021: January 6 insurrection in Washington DC. Many rioters posted videos of themselves entering the Capitol Building, which would be later used against them as criminal evidence.

2021: Donald Trump gets banned from Twitter.

Twitter

2021: GameStop mania on Twitter. GameStop investors anxiously awaited cryptic tweets from chairman Ryan Cohen, like a picture of an ice cream cone.

Ryan Cohen tweetTwitter

2021: Nicole Kidman's AMC commercial goes viral. "Somehow, heartbreak feels good in a place like this."

Twitter

2021: Jack Dorsey steps down as CEO and Parag Agrawal becomes the new head of Twitter.

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

2022: Russia invades Ukraine. Many atrocities committed during the war are documented on Twitter.

Ukraine President Volodymyr ZelenskyUkraine President Volodymyr Zelensky

2022: "The Slap," Will Smith slaps Chris Rock at the 94th Oscars after Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett-Smith.

Twitter

2022: Elon Musk agrees to buy Twitter for $44 billion after revealing he had a 9% stake in the company.

Chesnot/Getty Images

2022: Musk attempts to back out of the Twitter deal, claiming the company wasn't honest about the number of bots on the platform. Twitter sues Musk to keep him in the deal.

Elon Musk looks down during a speech.Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images

2022: Musk attempts to back out of the Twitter deal, claiming the company wasn't honest about the number of bots on the platform. Twitter sues Musk to keep him in the deal.

2022: Twitter announces that it's testing an edit feature, something many users had requested for years.

Edit button tweetTwitter

2022: Musk officially takes over Twitter in late-October. His first act as owner is to fire CEO Parag Agrawal, along with several other top executives at the company.

Getty Images

2022: One of the first new products rolled out under Musk's tenure was a blue verification checkmark for anyone who paid Twitter $8/month. Chaos ensued on the site, as people began impersonating brands and celebrities. The program was temporarily halted.

Courtesy of noisé

2022: One of the first new products rolled out under Musk's tenure was a blue verification checkmark for anyone who paid Twitter $8/month. Chaos ensued on the site, as people began impersonating brands and celebrities. The program was temporarily halted.

2022: Musk laid off 50% of Twitter's workforce in early-November. Two weeks later, he asked remaining employees to sign a pledge to commit to "hardcore Twitter" or leave the company. Many employees chose to leave.

Musk at a 2022 Halloween party.Taylor Hill/Getty Images

2022: Musk laid off 50% of Twitter's workforce in early-November. Two weeks later, he asked remaining employees to sign a pledge to commit to "hardcore Twitter" or leave the company. Many employees chose to leave.

2022: #RIPTwitter trends as Twitter offices shut down and celebrities deactivate their accounts.

Twitter

I spent a week on Mastodon, the social media platform some are turning to as they abandon Elon Musk's Twitter. This is what it was like.

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Here are some of the most iconic tweets ever and Twitter's biggest moments over the years

2006: Jack Dorsey sends the first-ever tweet.

2011: Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson first breaks the news that Osama bin Laden was killed via tweet.

2012: Twitter buys video sharing service Vine for a reported $30 million.

2013: Twitter goes public on the New York Stock Exchange.

2013: The first #BlackLivesMatter tweet is posted.

2014: The "Oscars selfie" taken by Ellen DeGeneres and fellow celebrities went on to become one of the most-retweeted photos to date.

2015: Jack Dorsey returns as CEO for a second time, after stepping down in 2008.

2015: Twitter replaces the "Favorite" button with the "Like" button.

2014: Leaked surveillance of Solange, Beyoncé, and Jay-Z elevator altercation surfaces.

2015: The creation of #OscarsSoWhite allowed users to call out the Oscars for bias toward white nominees.

2015: #TheDress optical illusion divides Twitter users on what colors they see.

2016: Twitter experiences a multi-hour global outage caused by a glitch in a software update. People compared it to Twitter's early "fail whale" days when outages were common.

2016: Twitter shuts down Vine as it struggled to compete with Instagram and Snapchat.

2016: Hillary Clinton tweets "Delete your account" to Trump during the 2016 presidential election.

2017: Twitter upped the allowable character count on tweets from 140 characters to 280 characters.

2017: Alyssa Milano tweets about #MeToo and sparks a movement for sexual assault survivors.

2017: President Trump tweets "Covfefe," and the internet tries to decode what he meant by it.

2019: Collective freakout over the 'Cats' trailer.

2019: "Sco pa tu manaa" meme used as a prompt to give your opinion.

2019: The Game of Thrones series finale.

2020: Twitter users mourn the death of Kobe Bryant.

2020: Popular tweeter/comedian, Jaboukie, gets suspended from Twitter for impersonating CNN.

2020: Everyone having to #StayInside at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

2020: Celebrities singing "Imagine" at the start of the covid-19 pandemic. Many on Twitter described it as "cringe."

2020: Nationwide protests in response to the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

2020: News of Chadwick Boseman's death breaks on Twitter.

2020: "We did it, Joe," from Kamala Harris after Joe Biden won the presidential election.

2021: #StopAsianHate movement on Twitter in response to increased violence against Asian-Americans.

2021: January 6 insurrection in Washington DC. Many rioters posted videos of themselves entering the Capitol Building, which would be later used against them as criminal evidence.

2021: Donald Trump gets banned from Twitter.

2021: GameStop mania on Twitter. GameStop investors anxiously awaited cryptic tweets from chairman Ryan Cohen, like a picture of an ice cream cone.

2021: Nicole Kidman's AMC commercial goes viral. "Somehow, heartbreak feels good in a place like this."

2021: Jack Dorsey steps down as CEO and Parag Agrawal becomes the new head of Twitter.

2022: Russia invades Ukraine. Many atrocities committed during the war are documented on Twitter.

2022: "The Slap," Will Smith slaps Chris Rock at the 94th Oscars after Rock made a joke about Jada Pinkett-Smith.

2022: Elon Musk agrees to buy Twitter for $44 billion after revealing he had a 9% stake in the company.

2022: Musk attempts to back out of the Twitter deal, claiming the company wasn't honest about the number of bots on the platform. Twitter sues Musk to keep him in the deal.

2022: Twitter announces that it's testing an edit feature, something many users had requested for years.

2022: Musk officially takes over Twitter in late-October. His first act as owner is to fire CEO Parag Agrawal, along with several other top executives at the company.

2022: One of the first new products rolled out under Musk's tenure was a blue verification checkmark for anyone who paid Twitter $8/month. Chaos ensued on the site, as people began impersonating brands and celebrities. The program was temporarily halted.

2022: Musk laid off 50% of Twitter's workforce in early-November. Two weeks later, he asked remaining employees to sign a pledge to commit to "hardcore Twitter" or leave the company. Many employees chose to leave.

2022: #RIPTwitter trends as Twitter offices shut down and celebrities deactivate their accounts.