Global Language Monitor found 35,000 major news stories about Pope John Paul II's death in the first 24 hours after it happened.

In comparison, that's 10 times the number devoted to the re-election of U.S. President George W. Bush last November.

And for even more context, the pontiff was the subject of 28,000 major news stories in the year before his death (Question: And how many stories of those dealt with primarily with his ill health or the possibility of his passing?)

Besides the stories, there were another 3.5 million Internet references to Il Papa in that first 24 hours.

Here's a quote from the group's website:

According to Paul JJ Payack, President of The Global Language Monitor, "The word historic is associated with the pontiff over 1,000,000 times, while conservative is associated some 300,000 times, and loved or beloved about a quarter million times in the first 24 hours since John Paul's passing."

How did this group arrive at this measurement?

To arrive at these numbers, The Global Language Monitor utilizes its proprietary Predictive Quantities Indicator (PQI), which tracks specified words and phrases in the global print and electronic media and on the Internet.  The words and phrases are tracked in relation to their frequency, contextual usage and appearance.

Payack was quoted in an AP wire story as basically saying the Pope's longevity and globe-trotting were likely responsible for the surge in interest.