When Steve Jobs and Osama bin Laden died, you turned to Twitter. When Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak resigned, the world (including @KennethCole) tweeted.
To relive the year in tweets, Twitter recently shared its most tweets-per-second list, and Storify released its list of most-quoted tweets. But Mashable's presenting you with something different: 21 tweets you'll likely remember long after the clock strikes midnight on Dec. 31.
What better way to show off these tweets than by using Twitter's new embeddable tweets feature, which launched Dec. 8. The tool allows you to reply, retweet and favorite any of the tweets without leaving this page.
Which tweets will you remember most? And which ones did we leave off the list? Add your contributions in the comments.
Deaths
Steve Jobs
When Steve Jobs died Oct. 5, many fans discussed his passing through tweets. The hashtag #RIPSteveJobs immediately became a trending topic, and his death was number nine on Twitter’s most tweets-per-second list this year. Since his passing, the world -- including U.S. President Barack Obama, Microsoft's Bill Gates and Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg -- has mourned his death and celebrated his achievements.
Rest in peace, Steve Jobs. From all of us at #Obama2012, thank you for the work you make possible every day—including ours.— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) October6, 2011
For those of us lucky enough to get to work with Steve, it’s been an insanely great honor. I will miss Steve immensely. b-gat.es/qHXDsU— Bill Gates (@BillGates) October6, 2011
Osama bin Laden
At 11:35 p.m. on May 1, the White House’s Twitter feed posted a quote from President Barack Obama that confirmed terrorist Osama bin Laden’s death. But before Obama uttered those words, Twitter was abuzz with speculation, including a tweet from Keith Urbahn, chief of staff for Office of Donald Rumsfeld, at 10:24 p.m. ET. Before all of the stateside tweets, however, Sohaib Athar (a.k.a. @ReallyVirtual) unknowingly began live-tweeting the top-secret raid that killed bin Laden in Pakistan.
So I'm told by a reputable person they have killed Osama Bin Laden. Hot damn.— Keith Urbahn (@keithurbahn) May2, 2011
Helicopter hovering above Abbottabad at 1AM (is a rare event).— Sohaib Athar May1, 2011
Ryan Dunn
Hours before his June 20 death, the Jackass star tweeted a photo of him drinking with friends. That tweet has since been taken down. Film critic Roger Ebert took a jab at the incident with this tweet that drew major criticism.
Friends don't let jackasses drink and drive.— Roger Ebert (@ebertchicago) June 20, 2011
Amy Winehouse
Following singer Amy Winhouses's July 23 death, a small PR account for Xbox used a tweet to promote one of her albums. Many people found the message distasteful and subsequently criticized Microsoft. The company eventually apologized, saying, “Apologies to everyone if our earlier Amy Winehouse ‘download’ tweet seemed purely commercially motivated. Far from the case, we assure you.”
Stay classy, Microsoft PR jackalsRT @tweetbox360: Remember Amy Winehouse by downloading the ground-breaking ‘Back to Black’ over at Zune— stuart houghton (@stuarthoughton) July 25, 2011
Muammar Gaddafi
On Oct. 20, rebel fighters captured and killed former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who ruled the country for 42 years, until NATO-backed rebels overthrew him earlier in 2011. Journalist Malik Al-Abdeh is credited as the first on-the-scene person to confirm Gaddafi's death.
First to tweet this from on-ground sources and I can confirm: #GADDAFI IS DEAD. He was shot dead by #FF in #Tripoli. #Libya— Malik Al-Abdeh (@MalikAlAbdeh) August 21, 2011
Business
Red Cross
A Red Cross employee inadvertently tweeted from the Red Cross Twitter account instead of her personal account on Feb. 16: "Ryan found two more 4 bottle packs of Dogfish Head's Midas Touch beer.... when we drink we do it right #gettngslizzerd." The tweet has been deleted, but in response, the Red Cross used humor to diffuse the situation. Dogfish Head also chimed in, using the #gettnslizzerd hashtag and asking beers fans to donate to the Red Cross.
We've deleted the rogue tweet but rest assured the Red Cross is sober and we've confiscated the keys.— American Red Cross (@RedCross) February 16, 2011
Wendy's
Twitter says this promoted tweet from Wendy's, an international fast food chain restaurant, was the most-retweeted tweet of 2011, and ultimately raised $50,000 for foster children.
RT for a good cause. Each retweet sends 50¢ to help kids in foster care. #TreatItFwd— Wendy's (@Wendys) June 15, 2011
Kenneth Cole
Attempting to weave current events into its social media strategy, Kenneth Cole's Twitter account posted this offending tweet, which immediately backfired: "Millions are in uproar in #Cairo. Rumor is they heard our new spring collection is now available online at http://bit.ly/KCairo -KC." The tweet has been removed, but not before people online ignited a firestorm of terse tweets criticizing the message. Kenneth Cole later apologized.
Re Egypt tweet: we weren'tintending to make light of a serious situation. We understand the sensitivity of this historic moment -KC— Kenneth Cole (@KennethCole) February3, 2011
Breakups
Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher
When Demi Moore publicly announced Nov. 17 that she plans to divorce Ashton Kutcher, her husband turned to social media to express his feelings. His tweet linked to the extended and original version of his statement -- posted on social platform Chime.in -- which says, “Marriage is one of the most difficult things in the world and unfortunately sometimes they fail. Love and Light, AK.” Moore acknowledged the split for the first time on Twitter on Dec. 14, saying changing her @MrsKutcher Twitter handle to something else “isn’t a top priority.”
I will forever cherish the time I spent with Demi.Marriage is... bit.ly/uB2q2Q— ashton kutcher (@aplusk) November 17, 2011
changing my twitter name isn't a top priority right now. sorry it bothers so many of u. should I not tweet until I do?does it really matter?— Demi Moore (@mrskutcher) December 14, 2011
Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries
On Nov. 1, Kim Kardashian divorced NBA player Kris Humphries, just just 72 days into their high-profile marriage. The split sparked two worldwide trending topics on Twitter -- #ThingsLongerThanKimsMarriage and #KimKMarriageWasShorter. Sisters Khloe and Kourtney Kardashian and media personality Ryan Seacrest also announced the breakup via Twitter.
Just got @KimKardashian's statement, "sometimes things don’t work out as planned." Read here bit.ly/sjUvVg— Ryan Seacrest (@RyanSeacrest) October 31, 2011
World
Space Shuttle Endeavour
Airplane passenger Stefanie Gordon documented the May 16 Endeavour launch. Gordon's Twitter photos of the space shuttle soon went viral, attracting the attention of @NASA, media outlets and fellow Twitter users.
Three things about my flight: I can lay down across 3 seats just fine, it was freezing & I got to see this.http://twitpic.com/4yg4ur— Stefanie Gordon (@Stefmara) May 16, 2011
Egypt
Google employee Wael Ghonim famously tweeted this on Feb. 11, after Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak resigned. Ghonim, an Internet activist during the Arab Spring, was arrested and subsequently released in Cairo after using Facebook to organize protests that helped incite Mubarak's resignation.
Welcome back Egypt #Jan25— Wael Ghonim (@Ghonim) February 11, 2011
Vatican
Via the Vatican’s Twitter news account, the Pope sent his first tweet using an iPad on June 28.
Dear Friends, I just launched News.va Praised be our Lord Jesus Christ! With my prayers and blessings, Benedictus XVI— Vatican - news (@news_va_en) June 28, 2011
Other
Steve Jobs
Among the countless tweets about Steve Jobs's death, this was one of Storify's most-quoted tweets this year.
Steve Jobs was born out of wedlock, put up for adoption at birth, dropped out of college, then changed the world. What's your excuse?— Jonathan Moss (@jwmoss) October6, 2011
TwitPic
When TwitPic founder Noah Everett (@noaheverett) was getting arrested on June 29, he turned to his own photo-sharing service to broadcast the news. Police reportedly arrested him for being topless in public, but no charges were filed.
Getting arrested...in the back of a cop car now— Noah Everett (@noaheverett) June 29, 2011
11/11/11
Stomping on everyone's excitement for Nerd New Year, The Onion and Saturday Night Live writer Mike Drucker intelligently shared this bit of knowledge with the masses.
Stop saying "11/11/11" only happens once in a lifetime. EVERY date only happens once in a lifetime. That's how time works.— Mike Drucker (@MikeDrucker) November 11, 2011
Celebrities
SHAQ
On June 1, NBA star Shaquille O’Neal announced his retirement via tweet, which included a video link to startup Tout.
im retiring Video: http://bit.ly/kvLtE3 #ShaqRetires— SHAQ (@SHAQ) June1, 2011
Charlie Sheen
Actor Charlie Sheen joined Twitter on March 1, and immediately broke the Guinness World Record for the fastest person to reach 1 million followers. He accomplished that feat -- for his tweets like the one below -- in 25 hours and 17 minutes. He now has more than 5 million followers on the social network.
Winning..!Choose your Vice...#winning#chooseyourvice http://twitpic.com/455ly9— Charlie Sheen (@charliesheen) March1, 2011
Sheen is just one of many well-known people to have joined Twitter in the past 12 months. Here are others: