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Top 25 Report: Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (February 9 to 15, 2014) Information

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Summary: Valentines Day got a somewhat muted reception this week, overshadowed by continuing coverage of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, the return of the TV series The Walking Dead, and the 50th anniversary of The Beatles' first appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. There are a surprising number of famous faces in the list this week; the death of Shirley Temple, a family tragedy for Julia Roberts, and the coming out of Elliot Page led to widespread interest. There would have been even more famous people on the list if I hadn't decided to exclude four of them (see #Exclusions below).

For the week of February 9 to 15, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the 5,000 most viewed pages* were:

Rank Last Wks Article Class Views Image Notes
1 - 2 Valentine's Day C-Class 1,862,945
This year's Valentine's Day only drew about half the views of last year's; perhaps people just aren't in a canoodling mood. One could certainly blame the weather, or the economy. Or both.
2 - - Shirley Temple C-class 1,479,644
It is somewhat apropos that the woman once known as America's Sweetheart would die within a week of Valentine's Day. That said, it's doubtful this two-time US ambassador would have appreciated the association. Given the reasons that former child stars usually appear on this list, the fact that she made so little news in the last few decades can be seen as an example.
3 3 3 2014 Winter Olympics B-class 1,103,626
The 2014 Winter Olympics opening ceremony fell on February 7. Thanks to Russia's vicious anti-gay laws and roundly condemned political imprisonments, this has become, whether it wanted to or not, a lightning rod for modern civil rights protest.
4 - - Curling C-Class 742,082
The first major event at the Olympics, competitive ice resurfacing (sorry, curling) remains one of the quaintest and most intriguing.
5 6 2 Sochi B-Class 578,480
The sub-tropical resort that Vladimir Putin for some reason chose as the ideal location to host the Winter Olympics has become something of a talking point, given that it is one of the few places the entire country that doesn't get snow in the winter, leading to the slightly ridiculous scenario of a country that regularly sees double-digits below zero temperatures having to spray artificial snow.
6 - - Flappy Bird C-Class 576,843 Initially. this curious mobile video game was noted either for its insane difficulty or its suspiciously familiar pipes. However, it suddenly exploded when its Vietnamese developer took it off the market, claiming that its addictive nature was contrary to its casual intent. You gotta hand it to a guy who removes his own product from sale because people like it too much.
7 21 27 IPv6 C-class 545,492
This was one of the most-viewed articles of 2013, and there remains a certain suspicion that, like many articles on technical subjects, it may be over-inflated. However, it is important enough to be given the benefit of the doubt. It is something of a crisis, though not one that is necessarily apparent. It may come as a surprise to some, but the Internet is, for lack of a better word, full. Every computer online is assigned a specific address, made up of a sequence of numbers, that allows other computers to contact it over the Internet. The original number sequence, known as IPv4, is currently the norm for ~99% of online computers. It allows for a maximum of about 4.3 billion addresses; a number that maxed out in January 2011. The long-term plan is to migrate over to IPv6, which allows for 3x1038 addresses; however, since this would require a massive software and even hardware upgrade, many companies are reluctant to undertake it. Until now we've been stalling for time by harvesting abandoned addresses and re-allocating them, a decidedly short-term measure.
8 10 58 Facebook B-class 510,226
A perennially popular article
9 - - Sarojini Naidu Start-class 504,890
Poet and first female governor of an Indian state, Naidu got a Google Doodle on what would have been her 135th birthday.
10 18 2 Winter Olympic Games Good Article 463,343
It's a Good Article, but in truth most people searching for it are probably looking for this year's version.
11 - 20 The Walking Dead (TV series) Good Article 445,918
The show's fourth season recommenced on 9 February.
12 - - Julia Roberts C-class 438,325
The beloved superstar of the 1990s reappeared in the popular consciousness when her allegedly estranged half-sister, Nancy Motes, committed suicide by overdose.
13 13 47 Deaths in 2014 List 431,716
The list of deaths in the current year is always quite a popular article.
14 - - Elliot Page C-class 412,377
The Oscar-nominated star of Juno and Inception came out as a lesbian on 14 February.
15 - - House of Cards (U.S. TV series) B-class 383,978 The second season of this political thriller series was released in its entirety on Netflix on 13 February
16 - - Saint Valentine Start-Class 380,106
No one's really sure who he was, if he was one person, or why his feast day became associated with love. Nonetheless, people want to know the few facts associated with this largely history-less holiday.
17 - 3 True Detective (TV series) Stub-class 349,274
This HBO police procedural stars Woody Harrelson and actor-of-the-moment Matthew McConaughey
18 - - The Lego Movie Start-class 346,244 Thanks to rave critical reviews and universal brand recognition, this has become the surprise megahit of the year, earning nearly $200 million worldwide in just 10 days.
19 - - Kelsey Grammer B-class 332,129
The tragic life of the erstwhile Frasier Crane (which included the murder of his father, sister and best friend, and accidental deaths of his two half-brothers) became a topic of interest on Reddit this week.
20 20 21 United States B-Class 329,772
The 8th most popular article of 2013 and the 3rd most popular Wikipedia article between 2010 and 2012. Even when not on the list, this article is a perpetual bubble-under-er. Not really surprising that the country with by far the most English speakers would be the most popular on the English Wikipedia.
21 - - George Harrison Featured Article 326,825
The "quiet Beatle" who introduced the sitar to 60s rock is the highest of The Beatles to appear on this list during the week of the 50th anniversary of their now-legendary appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show, probably due to an auction of the jackets both he and Ringo Starr wore on the cover of Help!. If true, this suggests that, despite still being alive, Ringo still can't catch a break.
22 - - 2018 Winter Olympics Start-Class 325,047
No, that's not an error; this one's only just started, and people are already looking ahead to the next one, which will be held in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
23 - 2 The Walking Dead (season 4) Good Article 319,575
People are undoubtedly using this page to look up air dates.
24 - - The Beatles The Beatles 309,353
The rock band widely regarded as the best in history made their first US television appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show 50 years ago this week, performing to an estimated audience of 73 million viewers. Various "reunions" and tributes occurred this week to commemorate the event.
25 - - Madam C.J. Walker C-class 303,515
February is, of course, Black History Month, and this oft-forgotten pioneer has been a constant presence throughout. Despite missing being born a slave by just two years, she built up a cosmetics empire from scratch, and on her death was not only the first African American but the first woman to become a self-made millionaire.
  • Number of views needed to reach Top 25 this week:303,515. Last week: 295,372.

Exclusions

  • This list excludes the Wikipedia main page, non-article pages, and anomalous entries (such as DDoS attacks or likely automated views). Please keep in mind that the explanations given for these articles' popularity are, fundamentally, guesses. Just because I can't find a reason for an article to be included doesn't mean there isn't one; conversely, just because a plausible reason is found for a view spike, that doesn't mean it wasn't due to a bot.
  • There are a number of articles that reappear frequently in the top 25 for no determined reason, and have been excluded as likely being due to automated views. Please feel free to discuss any removal on the talk page if you wish.
  • Specific exclusions this week:
    • I have made a call; perhaps a controversial one. Four other celebrity names appear on the raw list: Matthew McConaughey, Elvis Presley, Jewel (singer), and Denzel Washington. However, they all appeared on the list in a massive surge during the same two days, and all fell by exactly the same amount. This suggested to me that their appearance was artificially induced. I have therefore removed them.
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