Top 25 Report: Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (April 20 to 26, 2014)

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Summary: Not much to report this week. The same post-Easter celebrations (4/20, Earth Day) were popular again this year, except last year we were still reeling from the Boston Marathon bombing. Now Americans have the triumph of their countryman Meb Keflezighi to reflect on instead.

For the week of April 20 to 26, 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 - - Snoop Dogg B-class 752,512
This year Easter Sunday coincided with 4/20, the potheads' celebration, and ubertoker Snoop Dogg marked the date both with a sell-out concert at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre and a video of a "real Easter bunny" posted on Instagram. Those two together, may be enough to explain his massive one-day surge a day later, or may not, but I'm not about to dis Snoop Dogg.
2 1 26 Game of Thrones B-class 586,972
New seasons of this immensely popular show always draw people to Wikipedia.
3 5 3 Easter B-class 501,976
It's hard to remember these days, under the onslaught of bunnies, chocolate eggs and marshmallow peeps, that Easter, not Christmas, is the most sacred date of the Christian calendar. Doubtless a lot of people learned that this week, along with some fairly eye-raising information about the events it actually celebrates.
4 11 12 Amazon.com B-Class 419,848
This article has been veering wildly (and suspiciously) around the view graph for several weeks, but at least now its presence on the list has a reason: Amazon Fire TV is a digital streaming device to watch online content on a HDTV. How it distinguishes itself from the three or four other such devices currently on the market is a matter of some dispute.
5 - 2 420 (cannabis culture) Start-class 647,578
This curious "holiday", which falls on April 20 (for obvious reasons) refers to the mysterious number 420 and its long link to marijuana usage. While it may not quite be to cannabis what Oktoberfest is to beer, it no doubt aspires to be.
6 12 57 Deaths in 2014 List 402,005
The list of deaths in the current year is always a popular article.
7 7 4 Game of Thrones (season 4) Start-Class 384,436
As usual, people will be using this page to look up air dates.
8 16 2 The Amazing Spider-Man 2 C-Class 379,966
It's not surprising that this was released in foreign markets before its home territory; the original Spider-Man made $822 million worldwide, with the domestic and international grosses split roughly 50/50. The rebooted Amazing Spider-Man (this film's predecessor) made $752 million worldwide, but with international grosses now comprising 2/3 the total. This radical shift in Hollywood's biosphere has taken place in just a decade, and it is already altering hunting strategies, for good or ill; even after just two weeks overseas, this movie has already made $132 million.
9 9 3 List of Game of Thrones episodes List 364,019
Most likely air dates again.
10 - 2 Earth Day C-class 347,924
The annual eco-celebration got roughly the same views as last year.
11 17 67 Facebook B-class 323,370
A perennially popular article.
12 18 8 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. C-class 320,587
Joss Whedon's extension of the Marvel Cinematic Universe into television returned on 1 April after a three-week hiatus.
13 - - Fargo (TV series) Start-class 306,463
The TV series based on the Coen brothers' film-blanc Minnesota-homage and starring Billy Bob Thornton, Colin Hanks and, of all people, Martin Freeman, premiered on the cable channel FX to modest acclaim and (so far) consistent ratings on April 15.
14 - - Seth Rogen Good Article 304,532
The Judd Apatow protege and star of the upcoming Neighbors got a Reddit thread on April 22, outlining how he became his family's sole breadwinner by age 16.
15 - 38 List of Bollywood films of 2014 List 271,403
An established staple of the top 25 returns.
16 - - Tito Vilanova Start-class 270,419
The former manager of FC Barcelona died this week of throat cancer.
17 19 19 Frozen (2013 film) B-class 269,190
Disney's Oscar-winning juggernaut got a shot in the arm thanks to its release on DVD on March 18. Despite this, it has already overtaken Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest as Disney's highest-grossing film in theatres.
18 - - Rubin Carter C-class 260,510
The onetime middleweight boxer who spent 20 years in prison after a false conviction for murder, whose life was the inspiration for the film The Hurricane, died this week at the age of 76.
19 - - Louis van Gaal C-class 255,988
The current manager of the Dutch national football team got into the news this week over speculation he was being offered to run the most popular club in the world, Manchester United (Yeah, I know they're not doing very well this year, but considering that the world is currently home to more Man U fans than Americans, that's gonna take a while to change).
20 - - Dan Bilzerian C-class 251,375
The hard-living, poker playing millionaire and Instagram exhibitionist got into trouble this week for apparently throwing a porn star off his roof, which, I'll concede, is not the kind of trouble just anyone can get into.
21 – - Meb Keflezighi C-class 249,990
He may have immigrated from Eritrea at age 12, but after becoming the first American man to win the Boston Marathon in 31 years, the US media has been playing him up as an all-American success story.
22 - 45 YouTube Good Article 246,215
A perennially popular article.
23 - 13 Wikipedia Good Article 245,596
Wikipedia returns to its own Top 25.
24 - - Saint George's Day C-class 245,570
Saint Patrick is the patron saint of Ireland because he converted the Irish to Christianity. Saint Andrew is the patron saint of Scotland because his relics were supposedly transported there 1000 years ago. Saint David is the patron saint of Wales because he was a local boy made good. Saint George is the patron saint of England because... reasons. It says something about the English attitude towards religion that their chosen patron saint was a Palestinian who died centuries before their country even existed and is mostly famous for doing something fictional. Still, with the rise of Celtic regional nationalism, his flag has become ever more popular in England, as is his saint's day, which falls this week and got a Google Doodle.
25 - - Imgur C-class 225,448
Massive one-day spike on April 22 for the popular image-sharing site. Doesn't look artificial but with no immediately obvious rationale it's essentially impossible for me to determine why it happened.

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