Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs' untimely death generated a lot of activity on Twitter on Wednesday night. Reuters

Steve Jobs' tragic death at the age of 56 drew millions of reactions on Twitter and Facebook, but wasn't the most talked about event on Twitter ever according to Twitter's statistics.

Twitter reported on Thursday that at the peak of the news, there were 6,049 tweets per second pertaining to Steve Jobs -- good for fifth most ever for the social media platform.

What events generated more tweets than Jobs' death?

The No. 1 remains Beyonce showing off her baby bump in announcing her pregnancy during the MTV Music Awards on Aug. 28. The surprise announcement generated an astonishing 8,868 tweets per second during the peak of the activity.

The other events that topped Jobs' death in Twitter activity were: Japan defeating the United States in the Women's World Cup, Brazil's elimination from the Copa America soccer tournament, and New Year's Eve 2011.

One thing to consider though in these numbers is that they pertain to the peak of activity. Beyonce had a much higher peak of tweets per second than Steve Jobs' death, but may not have maintained that level of activity for as long as the Steve Jobs death news permeated Twitter.

Records to date, for tweets per second (TPS), as peak times, per SearchEngineLand.com

  • 8,868 TPS: Beyonce/MTV Video Music Awards (Aug. 28, 2011)
  • 7,196 TPS: Japan Beats US In Women's World Cup (July 17, 2011)
  • 7,166 TPS: Brazil eliminated from Copa America (July 17, 2011)
  • 6,939 TPS: New Year's Eve 2011 (Dec. 31, 2010)
  • 6,049 TPS: Steve Jobs death (Oct. 5, 2011)
  • 5,531 TPS: Game 6 of NBA Finals, Dallas Mavericks vs. Miami Heat (June 17, 2011)
  • 5,530 TPS: Japanese Earthquake & Tsunami (March 11, 2011)
  • 5,500 TPS: East Coast Earthquake (Aug. 23, 2011)
  • 5,106 TPS: Osama bin Laden killed (May 1, 2011)
  • 4,064 TPS: Super Bowl 2011 (Feb. 5, 2011)
  • 3,966 TPS: Royal Wedding (April 29, 2011)
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