Special Report

The Most Popular Wikipedia Page Every Week for the Past Year

Rodin Eckenroth / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

In existence for only 21 years, Wikipedia is the world’s most popular internet information source, with 1.8 billion people visiting the site every year. Because its 58+ million articles are written by unpaid contributors, edited by other contributors, it is not considered a fully credible research tool and is much maligned by the academic community, which generally forbids students from relying on its content. 

Nevertheless, Wikipedia is the go-to source for quick reference. It is a godsend for those who remember chasing down data or resolving a trivia dispute by spending time in the library, or, with luck, getting the reference librarian to do the work. And unlike the set of encyclopedias many people used to have in their homes, Wikipeidia is constantly being updated by its volunteer editors, and is able to tell you what has happened this week. (Libraries are still vital, of course. These are the best states for public libraries.)

To determine the most popular Wikipedia page every week for the past year, 24/7 Tempo reviewed Wikipedia’s Top 25 Report, a curated weekly report of the 25 most popular articles on the site. The tally, says Wikipedia, “exclude[s] articles for which high view counts appear to be overly influenced by non-human views.”

As it turns out, the most popular Wikipedia articles mostly relate to pop culture. Of the past 52 weeks, the most popular topics for 23 weeks were about TV shows, films, and actors – often following their deaths – and, for ten weeks, about sports figures and sports events, mainly relating to soccer. The popularity of the site in India may be seen from the fact that for eight weeks the No. 1 search was for an Indian celebrity or film.

Click here to see the most popular Wikipedia page every week for the past year

Hard news rarely took precedence, with the exception of three weeks dominated by Putin and his war against Ukraine, two relating to the Black Lives Matter movement, and one about the Taliban. None of the most popular pages in a given week addressed Covid, climate change, immigration, abortion, inflation, or U.S. politics. (These are 32 famous people you didn’t know were born in Ukraine.)

Mario Tama / Getty Images News via Getty Images

Apr. 18 to Apr. 24, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Derek Chauvin
> Views: 2,221,610

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Pool / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

Apr. 25 to May 1, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: 93rd Academy Awards
> Views: 1,571,338

Jamie McCarthy / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

May 2 to May 8, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Bill Gates
> Views: 1,371,353

Chesnot / Getty Images

May 9 to May 15, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Elon Musk
> Views: 2,023,222

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May 16 to May 22, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Eurovision Song Contest 2021
> Views: 1,610,619

May 23 to May 29, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Army of the Dead (2021 film)
> Views: 1,584,244

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John Phillips / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

May 30 to Jun. 5, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Mare of Easttown (TV series)
> Views: 1,232,548

Laurence Griffiths / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

Jun. 6 to Jun. 12, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: UEFA Euro 2020 (soccer qualifying tournament)
> Views: 1,725,754

Bastiaan Slabbers / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images

Jun. 13 to Jun. 19, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Juneteenth
> Views: 2,615,582

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Jun. 20 to Jun. 26, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: UEFA Euro 2020
> Views: 3,826,236

Jun. 27 to Jul. 3, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: UEFA Euro 2020
> Views: 2,920,042

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Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

Jul. 4 to Jul. 10, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Dilip Kumar (Indian film star)
> Views: 2,517,717

Jul. 11 to Jul. 17, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Black Widow (2021 film)
> Views: 1,640,488

Gregory Shamus / Getty Images Sport via Getty Images

Jul. 18 to Jul. 24, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Giannis Antetokounmpo (NBA star)
> Views: 2,034,685

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winhorse / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images

Jul. 25 to Jul. 31, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: 2020 Summer Olympics
> Views: 3,775,926

Joel Papalini / iStock Editorial via Getty Images

Aug. 1 to Aug. 7, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: 2020 Summer Olympics
> Views: 3,278,702

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Aug. 8 to Aug. 14, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: The Suicide Squad (2021 film)
> Views: 2,004,116

ewg3D / iStock Unreleased via Getty Images

Aug. 15 to Aug. 21, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Taliban
> Views: 6,195,799

Michael Regan / Getty Images

Aug. 22 to Aug. 28, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Cristiano Ronaldo (soccer star)
> Views: 1,857,188

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Courtesy of Sidharth Shukla via Facebook

Aug. 29 to Sep. 4, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Sidharth Shukla (Indian film star)
> Views: 2,897,546

Sep. 5 to Sep. 11, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Emma Raducanu (tennis player)
> Views: 3,031,991

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Sep. 12 to Sep. 18, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Norm Macdonald (comedian)
> Views: 2,793,630

Sep. 19 to Sep. 25, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Squid Game (Korean TV series)
> Views: 2,508,476

Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

Sep. 26 to Oct. 2, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Squid Game
> Views: 4,675,856

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Public Domain / Wikimedia Commons

Oct. 3 to Oct. 9, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Squid Game
> Views: 5,400,927

Chung Sung-Jun / Getty Images News via Getty Images

Oct. 10 to Oct. 16, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Squid Game
> Views: 3,648,028

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Photo by Drew Angerer / Getty Images

Oct. 17 to Oct. 23, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Colin Powell
> Views: 2,232,933

Oct. 24 to Oct. 30, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Puneeth Rajkumar (Indian film star)
> Views: 3,250,947

Oct. 31 to Nov. 6, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Eternals (2021 film)
> Views: 1,884,050

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Nov. 7 to Nov. 13, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Eternals
> Views: 1,669,266

Nov. 14 to Nov. 20, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Kenosha unrest shooting
> Views: 2,822,572

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Nov. 21 to Nov. 27, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Ralf Rangnick (soccer star)
> Views: 1,673,772

Nov. 28 to Dec. 4, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Virgil Abloh (fashion designer)
> Views: 1,740,726

Dec. 5 to Dec. 11, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Bipin Rawat (India’s chief of defense)
> Views: 3,257,899

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Franco Origlia / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

Dec. 12 to Dec. 18, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021 film)
> Views: 4,812,556

Elisabetta Villa / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

Dec. 19 to Dec. 25, 2021
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Spider-Man: No Way Home
> Views: 3,730,119

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Michael Ochs Archives / Michael Ochs Archives via Getty Images

Dec. 26, 2021 to Jan. 1, 2022
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Betty White
> Views: 6,250,441

Rodin Eckenroth / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

Jan. 2 to Jan. 8, 2022
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Betty White
> Views: 2,084,339

Leon Bennett / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

Jan. 9 to Jan. 15, 2022
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Bob Saget
> Views: 5,723,931

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Keystone / Getty Images

Jan. 16 to Jan. 22, 2022
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Meat Loaf
> Views: 3,032,358

Jan. 23 to Jan. 29, 2022
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Ashleigh Barty (tennis player)
> Views: 942,625

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Drew Angerer / Getty Images

Jan. 30 to Feb. 5, 2022
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Justin Trudeau
> Views: 2,338,088

Feb. 6 to Feb. 12, 2022
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Lata Mangeshkar (Indian singer)
> Views: 3,532,616

Dave Kotinsky / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

Feb. 13 to Feb. 19, 2022
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Anna Sorokin (Russian con artist)
> Views: 3,759,292

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Silent_GOS / iStock via Getty Images

Feb. 20 to Feb. 26, 2022
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Ukraine
> Views: 6,749,176

Chris McGrath / Getty Images News via Getty Images

Feb. 27 to Mar. 5, 2022
> Most popular Wikipedia page: 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
> Views: 7,647,610

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WPA Pool / Getty Images News via Getty Images

Mar. 6 to Mar. 12, 2022
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Vladimir Putin
> Views: 3,815,361

Mar. 13 to Mar. 19, 2022
> Most popular Wikipedia page: The Kashmir Files (2022 film)
> Views: 2,623,323

91170430@N05 / Flickr

Mar. 20 to Mar. 26, 2022
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Taylor Hawkins (Foo Fighters drummer)
> Views: 2,296,427

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Amy Sussman / Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

Mar. 27 to Apr. 2, 2022
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Jada Pinkett Smith
> Views: 3,341,264

Apr. 3 to Apr. 9, 2022
> Most popular Wikipedia page: Wrestlemania 38
> Views: 2,205,071

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Apr. 10 to Apr. 16, 2022
> Most popular Wikipedia page: K.G.F: Chapter 2 (2022 film)
> Views: 2,505,301

Apr. 17 to Apr. 23, 2022
> Most popular Wikipedia page: K.G.F: Chapter 2
> Views: 3,443,321

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