Wikipedia:2016 Top 50 Report
The Year of Death and unreleased, not to be released anytime in the near future Taxes
Let's face it, 2016 was a disaster of an excuse for a year. 2016 is now done and over with, though, and it's good riddance. With plenty of tragic, um, political or just plain overmemeified (that's not a word, is it) news to go around, I think that almost everyone is glad that 2016 is over. I suppose there was some good stuff, but not enough to justify everything else that happened.
Based on the WP:5000 yearly report, with commentary by A lad insane and Igordebraga, with a bit of copying and pasting from other reports.
Rank Article Class Views Image Notes Peak day 1 Donald Trump 
75,965,727 
He was elected president of the United States on November 8, 2016. Well, not really, but conservatives seem to accept the severely unfair and screwed-up ways of the Electoral College because their "person" won. It seems like just four years ago they were saying it was OF THE DEVIL. How superficial. I want to move to Canada. (Or New Zealand.) And I would if I wasn't 12. Being a minor is frequently quite inconvenient. Nov. 9
(election results)2 Deaths in 2016 
35,911,398 
2016 was absolutely horrible in terms of celebrity deaths; David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Glenn Frey, Prince, Muhammad Ali, Gene Wilder, Leonard Cohen, John Glenn, George Michael, Carrie Fisher (and then her mum), the list continues... Dec. 27
(death of our #24)3 Prince (musician) 
22,793,889 
Died on 21 April of a fentanyl overdose at the age of 57, leaving the world with a lot of widely acclaimed music, and a new Wikipedia record, with his article accumulating 16,561,273 views in a 7-day period, which broke the article. To my knowledge, however, it was only the one article that broke. Unlike some others. Thanks for breaking Wikipedia, Conrad Murray! Apr. 21
(death)4 United States presidential election, 2016
22,063,171 
"No. No. That's not true. That's impossible!" "Search your feelings. You know it to be true."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Enough said. Moving on...
Nov. 9
(election results)5 Suicide Squad (film)
19,435,260 
The most viewed film article of the year is this adaptation of the DC Comics title about a team of supervillain convicts recruited for black ops suicide missions. Even if reviewers hated how the movie is an overall mess regarding tone, writing, etc., audiences still made it the 10th highest-grossing flick of the year. Aug. 5
(US release)6 List of Bollywood films of 2016
19,285,100 
Generally a popular yearly list article, often slightly below the Top 25 in weekly reports but has collected enough long-term views to be awarded this small box explaining this. Such a glorious award. May 28 7 David Bowie 
19,039,110 
David Robert Jones died and left for Mars on 10 January 2016, having released his last album just two days before his untimely death. He left the world with many albums and movies, a new Wikipedia record (for the week of January 10–16, 12,006,245 views, which was then broken by Prince}, and a world trying to confirm a paranormal/Illuminati connection because of the song Girl Loves Me (involving a coincidence that had a 1 in 7 chance of happening, given the lyrics, but probably less if you take into account for the fact that it was the very next week, so probably 1 in 30, which is still not that unlikely) and the also untimely death of Alan Rickman later the same week. Admittedly, there are a lot of similarities (they both were British performing-arts males that died of cancer within a week of each other that had to do with spiders and lightning bolts) but not enough to go running to the Daily Mail with your precious "I have proof that David Bowie was involved with the Illuminati" stories. People. Seriously. Quit it with the Illuminati stuff. Um, anyway, ending that squirrel... Jan. 11
(death)8 Melania Trump
18,946,792 
Summed up in one word: eesh. The next First Lady of the United States, who will begin in office next January, has been surrounded by controversy, as well as many other people involved in the same upcoming administration. Nov. 9
(election results)9 Captain America: Civil War 
18,693,046 
Marvel Comics continues to hit big in adaptations of their characters with the third Captain America (played by Chris Evans, pictured) film, which is effectually "Avengers 2.5" given it follows the plot of the second superhero team-up and brings most of its cast back - though as the title indicates, the heroes are mostly battling each other. Civil War was the biggest hit of the year ($1,153 billion worldwide) with also the good reviews Marvel's "Distinguished Competition" struggles to get. Speaking of DC... May 12
(one week after US release)10 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
18,548,575 
Batman and Superman finally got together in the same movie, and even brought Wonder Woman along! Too bad it wasn't done in the way most people would've preferred, with an overtly grim tone and sloppy writing mostly concerned with vague philosophizing and setting up more DC Extended Universe movies. Batman v Superman divided fans and displeased critics. Still, it made the money would expect from two iconic characters, with $873.3 million worldwide. Mar. 25
(US release)11 Hillary Clinton
17,801,991 
The unsuccessful Democratic candidate for president of the United States (who should have won, I mean, she sucked too but not as badly). Her would-be status as president raises the question: What would Bill Clinton's status have been if she had won? Nov. 9
(election results)12 Deadpool (film)
16,917,412 
Marvel might have started their own studio for movies such as our #9, but 20th Century Fox still has the film rights to the X-Men. And the franchise's biggest success has become this bloody, bawdy, profane, and cheap ($58 million, less expensive even than the first X-Men back in 2000) production revolving around an insane and trigger-happy anti-hero, which critics liked and audiences made the highest-grossing R-rated film ever ($783.1 worldwide). By contrast, the more traditional effort X-Men: Apocalypse had a less positive reception, with mixed reviews, lower box office ($543.9 million against a $178 million budget) and views on Wikipedia (11.16 million, only enough for #41). Feb. 15
(Monday after release)13 Elizabeth II
16,815,631 
The queen of England and related commonwealth, she secures her place here due to a biographical drama about her early years called The Crown that aired its first season on British TV during 2016. Nov. 5
(day after The Crown season finale)14 United States
16,513,889 
Perennially popular article, which typically gets at least 35,000 views per day, with a peak in popularity in November (see #1, #4, #8, #11, et cetera). Nov. 9
(election results)15 Muhammad Ali
16.308.946 
This world-famous boxer, often called one of the greatest athletes ever, died on June 3 of Parkinson's disease - related to brain injuries sustained during his fighting career - at the age of 74. Jun. 4
(death)16 Pablo Escobar
16.217.248 
Season 2 of Narcos showed more about the infamous Medellín cartel chief, including his death in 1993. Sep. 5
(three days after Narcos S2)17 Barack Obama
16.007.138 
It was Obama's last year in office, and many are unhappy to think he will be replaced as president by someone who liked to question whether Obama was really born in America. Nov. 9
(election results)18 Game of Thrones
15.741.927 
HBO's hit adaptation of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels continues to draw in viewers to this world filled with sex, blood, dragons, zombies, and terrible things happening to any character who draws the audience sympathy. Jun. 26
(season finale)19 The Revenant (2015 film)
15.083.685 
A semi-biographical adaptation where Leonardo DiCaprio (pictured - and #29 on the list, with 13,02 million views) suffers profusely, from bear maulings to being dragged in the cold, The Revenant rode all the hype from leading the award season to become a financial success ($533 million worldwide), and even won Leo that elusive Oscar. It only couldn't get the Academy Award for Best Picture, beaten by the much more modest Spotlight (which finished the year with 6.093.146 views). Feb. 29
(day after Oscars)20 UEFA Euro 2016
14.493.352 
Association football continues to draw much more attention than the American variety, with high views for the quadrennial European tournament of nations. Superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who in 2004 saw his Portugal squad lose at home to a low-scoring team, this time led a low-scoring Portuguese team to a title over hosts France. Jun. 24
(group stage last day)21 Star Wars: The Force Awakens
14.175.449 
Episode VII of Star Wars, directed by J. J. Abrams and drawing heavily from the original trilogy, hit theaters in December 2015, and by the following year was on the way to becoming the highest-grossing movie not directed by James Cameron. It was the first under Disney ownership, and the studio wants to make the franchise an yearly offering: 2016 had side story Rogue One (#31 on the list, with 12.6 million views) and Episode VIII comes in December 2017. Jan. 6
(becomes highest-grossing film in US)22 Game of Thrones (season 6)
14.126.426 
Unlike author George R. R. Martin, who did not finish sixth novel The Winds of Winter, the showrunners of HBO's adaptation (#18) completed in time the ten episodes that comprise the sixth part of the television adaptation. Wonder if the book will eventually have major differences. Jun. 26
(season finale)23 2016 Summer Olympics
14,026,668 
Sports are always popular among Wikipedians, and this was no exception. Tens of thousands of athletes went to Brazil to fight for some medals, and with many events, a few scandals and other things that news media love to cover, people flocked to the article in droves to either find the latest scores or the latest updates on the scandals. Aug. 6
(first day)24 Carrie Fisher
13,923,993 
Princess Leia passed away on 27 December 2016 after drowning in moonlight, having been strangled by her own bra. (or going into cardiac arrest on a plane, whichever, I like the first one.) her initial heart attack occurred on December 23, and people who were (rightfully) sick and tired of people dying hoped that she wouldn't join them. Then, they were distracted by a cruel twist: George Michael had died. While they were in private mourning for this sadly ironic twist of fate, the penultimate blow struck, and she died. Then her mother as well. It seemed to end after that, but everyone was thankful for the new year. ...then silently cursed 2017 as well. Dec. 27
(death)25 O. J. Simpson
13,795,907 
The world's most famous accused-murderer-turned-robber claims the last spot on the list thanks to both a documentary and a true crime TV series featuring his controversial trial for murder in the 1990s. Feb. 3
(days after ACS debut)
.svg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
- Exclusions
Typical exclusions apply - the Main Page and mobile views either too low (under 10%) or high (over 90%).
Expanded Top 25
[edit]In honor of being an yearly report, here are 25 extra pages that comprise the year's most popular.
Rank Article Class Views Image Notes Views peak 26 Facebook
13,758,902 
A perennially popular article - if only, as someone wrote once, that people search for Facebook and end up clicking the Wikipedia page instead. Oct. 22 27 Stranger Things
13,414,209 
A Netflix original production that is essentially a love letter to the 1980s, combining both Steven Spielberg-esque adventure films such as E.T. and The Goonies with the Stephen King-esque horror of the decade. Positive reaction led to a second season, that will debut right in 2017. Jul. 27
(2 days after release)28 Ivanka Trump 
13,053,414 
Donald's (#1) first-born daughter (named after her mother, Ivana), and no doubt the most liked Trump outside core Trump-fandom. Her views regularly exceeded those of her siblings. Nov. 9
(election results)29 Leonardo DiCaprio
13,042,324 Ten entries below The Revenant comes its star, a former teenage heartthrob turned respected actor who went through everything possible in his portrayal of Hugh Glass - stark cold temperatures, a long shooting schedule, eating a raw bison liver - and was rewarded with the Academy Award for Best Actor. Leo has since taken a sabbatical from acting, and his only film in 2016 was the documentary Before the Flood. Feb. 29
(day after Oscars)30 2016 in film
12,927,722 
Generally a popular yearly list article, but this year it didn't garner enough to break the Top 25. Still, 2016 had some heavy hitters, and like 2015 ten movies surpassed $700 million worldwide. It was particularly massive for Disney, who got the whole top 5 highest-grossing films - the first four surpassing a billion! - by riding the Marvel, Star Wars, Pixar, animation and live-action remake of animation gravy trains. May 16 31 Rogue One
12,634,880 
As part of Disney's plans to make yearly Star Wars movies, there will be side stories such as Rogue One, directed by Gareth Edwards and starring Felicity Jones, Diego Luna and revered villain Darth Vader (all pictured along with a Stormtrooper), which directly precedes the original movie by showing how the Death Star plans were stolen. Reviewers liked the movie, and box office was just as high as The Force Awakens (#21) if not as massive. Dec. 26
(US release)32 List of Presidents of the United States
12,408,855 
Trump (#1) will be the first U.S. president not to hold a previous governmental office or military command. Nov. 9
(election results)33 Bernie Sanders
12,160,992 
The self-described democratic socialist ran against Hillary Clinton (#11) to be the Democratic candidate in the president election and lost, still backing her candidacy but with his supporters often complaining that he should have run instead. Says something that in the actual election Sanders received 111,850 write-in votes in three states: California, New Hampshire, and his home state of Vermont (where he got 6% of the votes). Feb. 10
(won New Hampshire primary)34 Michael Phelps
11,879,258 
For the last time, Phelps went to the Olympics (#23) and swam to get some gold medals. The only race he didn't win was in the 100m butterfly, where he tied with two others for the silver (!), losing to a Singaporean that back in 2008 was just a Phelps fan. Aug. 8
(won Gold the day before)35 Cristiano Ronaldo
11,705,684 
The footballer known as "CR7" continues to dominate, again winning the UEFA Champions League for Real Madrid and being chosen as the best player in the world - only this time he also led to the Portuguese national team to the European title for the first time, (#20), scoring 3 goals and 3 assists. Jul. 10
(Euro final)36 Google
11,658,693 
A perennially popular article, the company that owns among other things the omnipresent search engine that is the most accessed page on the web. Mar. 22 37 India
11,644,121 
The second-largest English-speaking population on Earth, and also home to the world's largest film industry (#6). Oct. 20 38 Westworld (TV series)
11,581,981 
HBO is more than just Game of Thrones (#18): based on a 1970s movie written and directed by the late novelist Michael Crichton, this series about a Western-themed amusement park staffed by hyperrealistic robots has had great reviews and ratings comparable to the first season of GoT. Dec. 6
(2 days after season finale)39 Star Wars
11,444,251 
Disney's plan to purchase this revered franchise from creator George Lucas is paying off handsomely, with two movies (#21, #31) surpassing one billion dollars, not to mention stuff such as the animated series Star Wars Rebels. Jan. 6
(Star Wars: The Force Awakens becomes highest-grossing film in the US)40 The Walking Dead (TV series)
11,305,688 
Season 7 of the popular television show, a mainstay of the Top 25 when it's airing, debuted on October 23. Oct. 24
(day after S6 debut)41 X-Men: Apocalypse
11,149,184 
Hopes were high for this after the rapturous critical and commercial reception given to Bryan Singer's previous X-Men film, Days of Future Past; unfortunately reviews for the follow-up were middling to negative, and box office did not reach the levels of the less traditional mutant offering Deadpool (#12), grossing $543.9 million worldwide against a $178 million budget. May 22
(weekend of international release)42 Dwayne Johnson
10,874,860 
The Rock had another successful year at the movies, playing a dork turned secret agent in the comedy Central Intelligence and a larger-than-life demigod in the Disney animated film Moana. Nov. 15
(announced as People Sexiest Man Alive)43 Lionel Messi
10,412,864 
The Argentine forward was again Spanish champion for FC Barcelona and "best footballer on the planet"TM, but for the third time in four years came up in only second place with Argentina, as he faced Chile in the Copa America Centenario final and lost on penalty kicks after a 0–0 draw. The 29-year-old Messi announced his retirement from the national team after the game... but changed his mind later, to the relief of all the supporters who'd rather not rely on Gonzalo Higuaín. Jun. 27
(day after Copa América final)44 Stephen Curry
10,396,851 
The basketball player did almost everything for his Golden State Warriors, winning a record 73 games in the regular season, being chosen as MVP for the second straight year, becoming the first player to win the title unanimously, and leading the team to the NBA Finals again... where in spite of opening 3–1 against the same Cleveland Cavaliers they beat in 2015, this time they lost the title, with the decisive game in the Warriors arena! Jun. 20
(day after Finals game 7)45 YouTube
10,364,151 
Another perennially popular article, which as noted under #26 earns some views from people searching for the site in parent company Google (#36). Oct. 24
(this?)46 Pokémon Go
10,337,382 
Nintendo finally lent its most profitable franchise to smartphones, breaking records and taking down servers worldwide. Mascot Mario, who had a memorable appearance in the closing ceremony of the Olympics (#23), is next. Jul. 11
(a week after release)47 Deadpool
10,210,511 
Ryan Reynolds (pictured) portrays Wade Wilson, the fourth wall-tickling, chimichanga-chomping, bullet-spraying loony mercenary that stars in #12. Feb. 14
(Sunday of film's release)48 Adolf Hitler
10,181,620 
The always popular World War II didn't enter the Top 25, but the leader of one of the sides entered the top 50 pages. The biggest views for the Führer were on April 20, his birthday (to the chagrin of 420 fans) and November 9, the day the American election's (#4) results came out (see Godwin's law). Apr. 20
(birthday)49 Electoral College (United States)
10,116,612 The complicated system #4 runs on, that ensured #1 became president in spite of losing the popular vote. Nov. 9
(election results)50 United Kingdom
9,952,820 
The Top 25 was topped by one controversial election result. This Top 50 closes with a place with another vote that many people questioned whether was chosen right, as the UK voted to leave the European Union. The once-mighty head of the British Empire is the only Top 50 inductee under 10 million views. Sad!
Jun. 24
(Brexit results)
.JPG)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.svg)
.jpg)
.jpg)
.svg)
Serendipodous remains right in most of what he said of 2015: film continues strong (6 movies, 1 list, 1 deceased actress), people are more tech-savvy and thus Facebook narrowly misses the list (#26, 41,000 views behind O. J.), again the people whose stories are told on TV (Queen Elizabeth, Pablo Escobar, O. J.) brought in more views than the shows themselves, and there are many current events to show "a shift from recreation to information." Still, the top two are related to the things people liked the least in 2016: an election that the campaign was grueling and the result caused a large outcry (even the current president got more views as a result!), and lots of beloved celebrities dying. No wonder people want some escapism and seek articles related to their entertainment (Game of Thrones even brought along the latest season), moreso than sports - with views only slightly lower than the World Cup in 2014, the UEFA Euro and the Olympics ended on the lower half of the list. And in an amusing change, the huge Indian population retained a list of their movies on the year-end tally, but the country itself fell off - #37 - unlike the United States, who remained on the top 25 helped by a boost amidst the revolt caused by their presidential election.
|
|