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At any moment, the world's digital water cooler reveals what has everyone's attention captivated for the moment. On January 9th, 2012, the Twitterati were focused on one thing...Tim Tebow of the Denver Broncos. Indeed it was #TebowTime in more ways than one. Not only did the rising star help lead the Broncos to an impressive overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in the NFL playoffs, he helped set a new record for the most sports-related Tweets per second (TPS).

When Tebow threw the pass in the first drive of OT that led to an 80-yard touchdown and ultimately the game, Twitter erupted at a rate of 9,420 TPS. Twitter officially announced the record earlier this morning.

Last night @TimTebow lead the @Denver_Broncos to an overtime playoff win and a new sports Tweets per second record: 9420

— Twitter (@twitter) January 9, 2012

To put that number in perscpetive, the previous record was an astounding 25,088 Tweets per second. Set in Japan on December 9th, 2011, viewers of Hayao Miyazaki's "Castle in the Sky" television screening, it's hard to imagine what could possibly top it. The record before that seems to only pale in comparison at 8,868 TPS when Beyonce announced her pregnancy during the MTV Video Music Awards in 2011.

On Dec 9, the television screening in Japan of Hayao Miyazaki’s “Castle in the Sky” led to 25,088 Tweets per second - a new Twitter record.

— Twitter Comms (@twittercomms) December 14, 2011

And, prior to Beyonce's announcement, the earlier record was set earlier in the year at 7,196 TPS, which was set at the end of the FIFA Women's World Cup. That same day, the Copa America quarterfinal between Paraguay and Brazil came close to beating it with 7,166 TPS.

Other Tweetable moments include Steve Jobs’ resignation from Apple, which hit 7,064 TPS. His untimely death inspired 6,049 TPS. The freak earthquake to rock the East Coast in August 2011 cause an aftershock of 5,449 TPS.

On New Years Eve 2010 in Japan, Twitter welcomed 2011 with 6,939 TPS. The Japanese earthquake and Tsunami in March produced 5,530 TPS. The death of Bin Laden sparked 5,106 TPS. And, the Royal Wedding reached a peak of 3,966 TPS.

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