Happy 5th Birthday, Twitter! 10 Top Tweets of the Past 5 Years

March 21, 2011— -- The micro-blogging site Twitter is hardly micro anymore.

Since its launch five years ago today, the social media start-up has shown the world just how powerful 140 characters can be.

It has taken down governments, while lifting Hollywood stars to new heights. It has brought accountability to institutions, while giving individuals a new platform for action.

Over the past five years, single tweets have led to marriage and divorce, fame and notoriety, revolution and rebuilding -- here are 10 of our favorites.

@Jack: inviting coworkers

It was the tweet that launched a social media revolution. According to Twitter, this is the first official tweet sent out by the company's co-founder Jack Dorsey on March 21, 2006.

@barack obama: We just made history. All of this happened because you gave your time, talent and passion. All of this happened because of you. Thanks

Posted by President Barack Obama (or the individual who manages his Twitter account), immediately after his 2008 victory, this tweet speaks to the role of social media in that presidential election. Through Twitter, Facebook, Flickr, Youtube and other new media, Obama and his party rallied young people across the country. Since the election, Obama's White House has continued to use social media to reach citizens directly.

@jkrums: http://twitpic.com/135xa - There's a plane in the Hudson. I'm on the ferry going to pick up the people. Crazy.

When Janis Krums of Sarasota, Fla., posted this tweet and picture, in January 2009, of the U.S. Airways jet landing in New York's Hudson River, he didn't just capture the so-called "Miracle on the Hudson," he caught the attention of the media. The iconic image was among the very first pictures of the event seen by the public and reinforced the role of citizen journalism and Twitter's growing influence.

@aplusk: "Victory is ours!!!!!!!!"

Maybe it took Charlie Sheen only 24 hours to attract 1 million followers on Twitter, but back in 2009, Twitter followers weren't so easy to come by. It took actor Ashton Kutcher more than three months to reach 1 million follwers and he was the first Twitter user to reach that milestone. In the lead-up to his first million followers, the media and Twitterati buzzed about the "race" between Kutcher and CNN (his closest rival). This is the tweet Kutcher posted when he crossed the million-follower mark.

#iranelection

It was the revolution that wasn't just televised, but tweeted, too. In June 2009, the violence in Iran following the election was tweeted, blogged, streamed and posted on countless websites despite government censorship attempts. According to Twitter, #iranelection was the top trending news topic in 2009.