Wikipedia:2012 Top 50 Report

The Top 50 Report – 2012

Annual Top 50

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Based on the Zeitgeist data and prepared with commentary by:

Commentary


Rank Article Class Image About
1 Facebook   image commentary
2 Deaths in 2012   image commentary
3 YouTube     The online video sharing platform is a consistently popular article, and as such frequently features on the Top 25 Report.
4 Fifty Shades of Grey   image commentary
5 One Direction   image commentary
6 The Avengers (2012 film)   image commentary
7 2012 phenomenon     This year saw a range of eschatological beliefs that cataclysmic or transformative events would occur on or around 21 December 2012. This date was regarded as the end-date of a 5,126-year-long cycle in the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, and festivities took place on 21 December 2012 to commemorate the event in the countries that were part of the Maya civilization (Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador), with main events at Chichén Itzá in Mexico and Tikal in Guatemala.

Various astronomical alignments and numerological formulae were proposed for this date. A New Age interpretation held that the date marked the start of a period during which Earth and its inhabitants would undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation, and that 21 December 2012 would mark the beginning of a new era. Others suggested that the date marked the end of the world or a similar catastrophe. Scenarios suggested for the end of the world included the arrival of the next solar maximum, an interaction between Earth and the supermassive black hole at the center of the galaxy, Earth's collision with a mythical planet called Nibiru, or even the heating of Earth's core.

Scholars from various disciplines quickly dismissed predictions of cataclysmic events as they arose. Mayan scholars stated that no classic Mayan accounts forecast impending doom, and the idea that the Long Count calendar ends in 2012 misrepresented Mayan history and culture. Astronomers rejected the various proposed doomsday scenarios as pseudoscience refuted by elementary astronomical observations. And just like when the people thought the world would end after Y2k, absolutely nothing happened on or around 21 December 2012.

8 The Dark Knight Rises   image commentary
9 United States   image commentary
10 The Hunger Games   image commentary
11 The Big Bang Theory   image commentary
12 Game of Thrones   image commentary
13 How I Met Your Mother   image commentary
14 Barack Obama     "Tonight, more than 200 years after a former colony won the right to determine its own destiny, the task of perfecting our union moves forward."

The incumbent president won the 2012 presidential election against #15. Obama won his reelection bid by a margin of 51.06 to 47.21%. This was the first time since 1944, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt won re-election, that a Democratic president had won by a majority of the electoral votes and over 51% of the popular vote twice. Obama is pictured here alongside artistic gymnastic McKayla Maroney, who was not impressed.

15 Mitt Romney     The former Governor of Massachusetts lost the 2012 presidential election to #14.
16 The Walking Dead (TV series)   image commentary
17 2012 Summer Olympics   image commentary
18 Whitney Houston     Among the famous faces to die this year (#2) was "The Voice", who was known for her powerful, soulful vocals and vocal improvization skills in her three-decade career in music. She accidentally drowned in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills on February 11, 2012, with heart disease and cocaine use as contributing factors. News of her death coincided with the 2012 Grammy Awards and was covered internationally.
19 Gangnam Style     The viral horse dancing music video for Psy's K-pop song made history as the first YouTube video to hit 1 billion views.
20 Justin Bieber   image commentary
21 Adele   image commentary
22 Nicki Minaj   image commentary
23 World War II   image commentary
24 Breaking Bad   image commentary
25 India   image commentary
26 United Kingdom   image commentary
27 RMS Titanic     This year marked the hundredth anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic.
28 Adolf Hitler   image commentary
29 Lionel Messi   image commentary
30 Eminem   image commentary
31 The Hunger Games (film)   image commentary
32 Illuminati   image commentary
33 List of How I Met Your Mother episodes   image commentary
34 Rihanna   image commentary
35 Elizabeth II     Her Majesty celebrated her Diamond Jubilee this year.
36 List of The Big Bang Theory episodes   image commentary
37 Abraham Lincoln   image commentary
38 World War I   image commentary
39 Skyfall   image commentary
40 Mila Kunis   image commentary
41 2012 in film   image commentary
42 Once Upon a Time (TV series)   image commentary
43 UEFA Euro 2012   image commentary
44 New York City   image commentary
45 Glee (TV series)   image commentary
46 Lana Del Rey   image commentary
47 Stop Online Piracy Act   image A controversial proposed United States congressional bill to expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement to combat online copyright infringement and online trafficking in counterfeit goods. Wikipedia was among an estimated 7,000 other websites that ceased standard operation as part of a coordinated service blackout as an attempt to spread awareness and objection to the bill.
48 Selena Gomez   image commentary
49 Steve Jobs   image Still dead.
50 Marilyn Monroe   image commentary

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