The History Of Twitter In 10 Tweets
Below is a sampling of 10 memorable tweets since the Twitter era began.
"just setting up my twttr"
@jack
March 2006
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey sent the first tweet, an automated message saying "just setting up my twttr." That same day, he sent the first live tweet, "inviting coworkers."
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"Arrested"
@jamesbuck
April 2008
US university student James Buck got off a one-word tweet after being taken into custody by Egyptian authorities at an anti-government protest in that country. In what is seen as an early demonstration of the power of Twitter to rally people to a cause, the resulting outcry prompted authorities to quickly restore his liberty. He proclaimed his release in a tweet reading "Free."
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"There's a plane in the Hudson. I'm on the ferry going to pick up the people. Crazy."
@jkrums
January 2009
A US Airways jet crash-landed on the Hudson River in New York. This tweet and others by witnesses and passengers was accompanied by a link to a picture of the scene, breaking the news well ahead of mainstream media outlets.
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"HI TWITTERS. THANK YOU FOR A WARM WELCOME. FEELING REALLY 21st CENTURY"
@Oprah
April 2009
Talk show queen and media royalty Oprah Winfrey took Twitter mainstream with her debut post and now has more than 21 million followers.
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"From orbit: Launch was awesome!! I am feeling great, working hard, & enjoying the magnificent views, the adventure of a lifetime has begun!"
@astro_mike
Astronaut Mike Massimino makes history with the first tweet from space.
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"Twitter Revolution"
June 2009
Not a specific tweet, but an unofficial name given to a bold movement by thousands of Iranians who took to the streets to protest what they saw as a rigged presidential election and used Twitter to thwart government efforts to block them from communicating with one another and the world. Two years later, Twitter would become a vital tool used in "Arab Spring" series of uprisings in an array of countries in the Middle East and North Africa.
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"Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event)."
@ReallyVirtual
May 2011
IT consultant Sohaib Athar unknowingly tweeted about US Navy Seals raiding a nearby home in Pakistan where Osama bin Laden was hiding. Bin Laden was killed during the operation.
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"Four more years"
@BarackObama
November 2012
US President Obama put out word of his election victory along with a picture of him and his wife, Michelle, hugging. The post was "retweeted" more than 800,000 times, becoming the most shared Twitter message to date.
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"Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter. Thank you for your generous response. I bless all of you from my heart."
@Pontifex
December 2012
Pope Benedict XVI launched the first papal Twitter account, which was continued by his successor, Pope Francis. The English-language papal account has more than three million followers, and a Spanish-language version four million.
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"Power Out? No Problem. You can still dunk in the dark."
@Oreo
February 2013
A tweet fired off by the makers of Oreo cookies when a power outage interrupted the American football spectacle known as the Super Bowl was an instant hit, demonstrating the potential of Twitter to adapt cleverly to the real-time messaging platform.
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"Breaking: Two Explosions in the White House and Barack Obama is injured."
April 2013
Hackers from a group calling itself the Syrian Electronic Army commandeered a news wire account and posted this bogus message, showing that Twitter has become such a trusted place for the latest information that it had become a target.
Copyright (2013) AFP. All rights reserved.
