Prepared with commentary by OZOO
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A fan of notable dates could have quite a week on the Top 25 this week. Starting their week in India with Monday's Holi festival (#3), they could then catch a flight to Europe on Tuesday - eating a slice of pie on the way (#15) - before a choice on Wednesday of remembering Julius Caesar's assassination (#21) or observing democracy in the Netherlands (#12), before finishing their week at one of the many, many celebrations for Saint Patrick's Day (#1).
Those who prefer cinematic excitement will note Beauty and the Beast joining Logan, Kong: Skull Island and Get Out in the top 7. Meanwhile, Sheerangeddon 2k17 continues unabated, Reddit is going robot fighting and Netflix has a new Marvel Cinematic Universe TV show for your interest.
For the week of March 12 to 18, 2017, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the WP:5000 report were:
Rank | Article | Class | Views | Image | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Saint Patrick's Day | ![]() |
2,486,468 | ![]() |
Up 444,152 views on last year, the Irish national day (17 March) is celebrated in more countries than any other National day. As a non-celebrant, it seems to me to be largely used by some as an excuse to get drunk, which I'm not certain is entirely within the Christian tradition. |
2 | Logan (film) | ![]() |
1,150,811 | ![]() |
The most popular movie of the year worldwide (according to Box Office Mojo, at least); Logan remains the most popular movie amongst Wikipedians. How long it can hold onto those positions, given what's sitting in #5, is unclear. |
3 | Holi | ![]() |
882,552 | The Hindu festival of colours was this year held on March 13. The festival - which most famously features the throwing of coloured powders at each other - signifies the arrival of spring, the end of winter, and the victory of good over evil. All things worth noting, I feel. | |
4 | Kong: Skull Island | ![]() |
853,463 | The 8th movie featuring King Kong (but the first appearance for the gorilla in this current franchise), this has received mostly positive reviews and topped the US and UK box offices at the start of the week. | |
5 | Beauty and the Beast (2017 film) | ![]() |
837,473 | ![]() |
Looks like the third animated classic Disney have made into a live-action film in as many years will be as successful as the others. Emma Watson and Dan Stevens star in the musical, which ended the week topping the US and UK box-offices and is well placed to chase Logan down in the worldwide yearly rankings. |
6 | Saint Patrick | ![]() |
744,137 | ![]() |
The man whose death is commemorated on Saint Patrick's Day and the patron saint of Ireland, Nigeria, Montserrat and others. The fifth-century Romano-British missionary is arguably best known for his work in driving the snakes out of Ireland, which does seem a tad unfair on the snakes. |
7 | Get Out (film) | ![]() |
727,402 | ![]() |
The fourth most popular movie at the US box office, behind Beauty and the Beast, Kong: Skull Island and Logan in Wikipedia as in real life. |
8 | Deaths in 2017 | ![]() |
670,085 | ![]() |
Deaths this week included the poet and playwright Derek Walcott, the musician James Cotton and Rock and roll legend Chuck Berry, the latter of whom would almost certainly be topping the list had his death not happened at the very end of the week. |
9 | Blendo | ![]() |
667,777 | ![]() |
Reddit here, discovering that the future Mythbuster Jamie Hyneman was awarded co-champion status in two early Robot Wars (TV series)#US Robot Wars events, after the robot was judged too dangerous to actually be allowed to compete. |
10 | Yogi Adityanath | ![]() |
874,133 | ![]() |
Was appointed Chief Minister of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on March 18, after helping his party to a significant win in the legislative election. |
11 | Iron Fist (TV series) | ![]() |
639,191 | ![]() |
The sixth (sixth) TV series set in the Marvel Cinematic Universe launched this week on Netflix. As yet, the series does not seem to be attracting as much positive feedback as its stable mates, Daredevil, Jessica Jones and Luke Cage. |
12 | Dutch general election, 2017 | ![]() |
650,355 | ![]() |
Held on March 15, Prime Minister Mark Rutte looks set to retain power after his People's Party for Freedom and Democracy led the election results despite losing seats, with the Eurosceptic Party for Freedom back in second and the GroenLinks party gaining 10 seats. With a minimum of four parties needed to join forces to form a majority, only one thing is clear from the election results: <insert pre-formed opinion here>. |
13 | WrestleMania 33 | Future | 522,443 | ![]() |
Just two weeks until the biggest event in WWE wrestling takes place at the pictured Camping World Stadium in Florida. While in no way a wrestling fan, I have to acknowledge the dedication of those who are - there are 12 matches taking place at WrestleMania, 8 of which are championship matches and all of which, presumably, are deeply ingrained in the current plotlines running through the buildup. The article, two weeks before the event, has 92 references. That's detail. |
14 | Iron Fist (comics) | ![]() |
518,119 | ![]() |
The martial arts practitioner is being portrayed by Game of Thrones actor Finn Jones in the just-launched TV series. |
15 | Pi Day | ![]() |
496,597 | ![]() |
An annual 'celebration' on March 14, the day which matches the start of pi (3.14) in the American date system. The next two digits are 15, the position Pi Day occupies in today's list! Sadly, 496597 does not come until position 490997, which regrettably disproves the existence of the Illuminati. |
16 | Badrinath Ki Dulhania | ![]() |
485,168 | ![]() |
The current big film in India, the follow up to 2014's Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania was released on the Holi weekend. |
17 | Ed Sheeran | ![]() |
474,132 | ![]() |
Sheeran has spent ten weeks top of the UK Singles Chart. He has spent eight weeks top of the Billboard Top 100. He has spent ten weeks top of the Australian ARIA Singles Chart. He has spent nine weeks top of the Dutch Top 40. In the past couple of weeks he has broken through to top the Slovenian SloTop50. There is absolutely no way of knowing where he will strike next, so please do remain vigilant. |
18 | Idiot plot | ![]() |
465,898 | ![]() |
Another Reddit discovery. The term, popularised by Roger Ebert, refers to a plot which is kept in motion solely by virtue of the fact that everybody involved is an idiot. As well as being a useful literary criticism term, it can also be used to discuss abysmal graphwork. |
19 | Donald Trump | ![]() |
441,090 | ![]() |
Remains President of the United States, despite all those petitions your Facebook friends have been signing. |
20 | Riverdale (2017 TV series) | ![]() |
427,879 | ![]() |
The CW's adaptation of Archie Comics appears to have taken a brief break over the past couple of weeks, perhaps leading viewers to come to Wikipedia to find out where it is? Archie sadly completely passed me by as a kid, but I am holding out hope that the success of this series will eventually lead to a dark and gritty re-imagining of The Beano. |
21 | Ides of March | ![]() |
418,476 | ![]() |
R.I.P. Julius Caesar, assassinated on March 15, 44 BC. The Ides are down 252,471 readers on last year, with the Dutch election not quite raising the same parallels as last year's Super Tuesday II. |
22 | Lonzo Ball | ![]() |
399,893 | ![]() |
The UCLA Bruins basketball star has broken the single-season record for most assists and is seen as a top prospect for the 2017 NBA draft in June. |
23 | X-Men (film series) | ![]() |
396,788 | ![]() |
With Logan and Legion elsewhere on the list, no surprise to see the franchise overview staying popular. |
24 | This Is Us (TV series) | ![]() |
393,547 | ![]() |
The NBC drama, starring Milo Ventimiglia and others, had its highest rating so far for its first season's final episode. |
25 | Legion (TV series) | ![]() |
383,552 | ![]() |
As well as being beastly up at #5, Dan Stevens is starring in this FX superhero series, the first as part of the X-Men film series |