The Top 25 Report
Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (March 13 to 19, 2016)
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Please note: This article is outside the mainspace, and is not required to follow WP:NPOV. Its contents reflect the opinions and thoughts of a single editor.
Summary: Shakespeare had a fortune teller forewarn Julius Caesar to beware the Ides of March. Given Caesar was assassinated that day, it's fair to say he was insufficiently wary. As are, it seems, our viewers, as numbers a significantly down on last week. Or perhaps they're simply exhausted, with a significant holdover of topics indicating that they found little new to be interested in.
As prepared by Serendipodous, for the week of March 13 to 19, 2016, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the most viewed pages, were:
Rank Article Class Views Image Notes 1 Donald Trump 
2,412,293 
"Donald Trump", unsurprisingly, was the 17th most viewed article of 2015, during which it accrued over 14 million views. In the four weeks it has stood at #1 on this list, the article has garnered nearly 21 million views. If that number were included in last year's list, it would be at #5. Just for the last four weeks. So completely has Trump fused together the two principal preoccupations of our viewership (current events and entertainment) that it is simply impossible to know which reason is driving them more. Do our viewers see his presidential campaign as a genuine epochal shift in the political landscape of the US? Or simply as yet another reality TV show? Come the end of year one of President Trump's administration, it will be interesting to see if the show is still going. 2 Saint Patrick's Day 
2,042,316 
Every man has his day, at least if he's a saint. And when your day happens to involve copious alcohol consumption and opportunities for gradeschool cruelty, it is bound to be popular. 3 Merrick Garland
1,696,246 
Five days before Barack Obama named this federal judge from his home turf of Chicago his nominee for Justice of the Supreme Court, Republican senator Orrin Hatch cited him as a moderate candidate that Obama would never choose. Of course, the fact that he did choose him has not stopped Senate Republicans blocking his nomination until the next president is elected, citing the "Biden Rule"; a term which didn't exist before this year and even Joe Biden has contested. 4 10 Cloverfield Lane 
865,546 
The fact that this science fiction thriller, which was produced by J. J. Abrams and includes Mary Elizabeth Winstead (pictured) in the cast, has apparently nothing to do with the original Cloverfield (it was initially titled "The Cellar") does not seem to have deterred audiences or critics. It has earned $45 million in its first ten days; triple its production budget, and has a 90% RT rating. 5 Republican Party presidential primaries, 2016
721,981 
Seventeen began. Three remain. So-called "Super Tuesday II" fell on the 15th, with Trump storming every state and territory except Ohio, which was won by its current governor, John Kasich; much, I am sure, to his relief, as he had said he would drop out if it was not. Poor Marco Rubio had not said he would drop out if he lost his home state of Florida, but did so anyway when he did. With the contest quiet until the next big primary push on the 22nd, and debates apparently over, the Presidential election has entered a kind of surreal cruise control, as the country waits to see if Trump can reach that magic number of 1237 delegates he needs to secure the nomination without a brokered convention. 6 Genie (feral child)
687,378 
This horrifying story, in which a young child was forced to spend the first thirteen years of her life in a blacked out room without any human contact, became the topic of intense discussion on Reddit this week, with many asking very difficult questions; was it right for the researchers to test her the way they did, or was she simply too good an opportunity to study cognitive development? Should she have gone back to her mother, who claimed she was forced into the abuse, or stayed with the researchers who had become, against scientific ethics, her surrogate parents? There are no easy answers when dealing with something so complex and fragile as a human life. 7 Ides of March
670,947 
The Ides of March (or March 15), the day of the year on which Julius Caesar was assassinated, has lived on ever since as a metaphor for violent political transition; whether revolution in the name of freedom (As Brutus himself suggested on coins minted after the event) or betrayal in the name of political ideals, as William Shakespeare suggested in his Julius Caesar. With Super Tuesday II falling on the Ides of March this year, and its resultant downfall of Marco Rubio, many are seeing the date reaffirm itself as a time of political reckoning. 8 Deaths in 2016 
634,903 
The annual list of deaths has always been a fairly consistent visitor to this list, averaging about 500,000 views a week. Since the death of David Bowie, this article's views have jumped on average. 9 Saint Patrick
627,900 
The patron saint of Ireland was not, in fact, Irish, and actually may have been born in what would some day become England (but wasn't yet, patriotic Irish readers, so relax); he owes his status in Ireland to Irish pirates, who abducted him and took him there, giving him the familiarity with the land he needed when he returned many years later to convert the locals. 10 Ariana Grande
619,144 
She isn't known for her acting chops, but Ariana Grande, by all accounts, crushed it as guest host of Saturday Night Live this week, doing spot-on impressions of Britney Spears, Shakira, Celine Dion, Whitney Houston, and even Jennifer Lawrence, and debuted her latest single, "Be Alright". 11 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
507,108 
And so the countdown begins. After the tepidly received Man of Steel, it was beginning to seem that DC wouldn't be able to follow Marvel in creating a cinematic universe, and now everything hinges on how well this film does at the box office. Well, this and Suicide Squad, but mainly this. With its budget said to be north of $250 million, no doubt Time Warner are counting the hours (25 as of this writing) until its early release in Europe. 12 Caroline Herschel
496,969 
Just as with Maria Mitchell two years ago, a Google Doodle inspired thousands to turn to Wikipedia for information on a 19th-century female astronomer. And just like Maria Mitchell, the article they turned to was C-class. Here's hoping the efforts of the newly formed Google Doodle Task Force can do justice to this prodigious intellect, who followed her brother William "discoverer of Uranus" Herschel first from Germany to Bath, Somerset, and then from music into astronomy, where she became a noted discoverer of objects in her own right. Six comets still bear her name. 13 Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2016
477,090 
With Hillary Clinton doing a clean sweep on the March 15 primaries, supporters of her opponent, Bernie Sanders, are looking towards the western states. Everything will depend on how he plays in large, left-leaning states like New York and California. 14 John Kasich
469,603 
The Republican Governor of Ohio was one of the latest entrants to the Hunger Games cornucopia that has been the Republican primary, and, rather astonishingly, has managed to remain in the race after flashier, louder and more feted opponents dropped out, mainly by keeping his head down and biding his time. Well this week he won his home state of Ohio in the primaries, and his poll numbers, which once resembled the path of a recently salted slug, are now about to eclipse those of Marco Rubio. 15 The Walking Dead (season 6)
462,738 
Three weeks from its season finale, story arcs are tying up with multiple bangs in this AMC series. 16 Daredevil (season 2)
461,234 
The critics haven't been as kind to the second season of this Marvel/Netflix series as they were to the first, and Wikipedia viewers appear to agree, with numbers down nearly 50% on last year. 17 Bernie Sanders
577,849 
The candidate for the Democratic Party nomination for U.S. President may be behind Hillary Clinton in delegates, but he consistently beats her in Wikipedia traffic. This week, Hillary was #38 (330,364 views). 18 Zach Braff
437,869 
Reddit threads always come in pairs, and this week's second helping involved the critically acclaimed, actor and director, who punched out a 12-year-old for spray painting his car, which turned out to be a hidden camera stunt for the show Punk'd. 19 O. J. Simpson
432,536 
The former football player, Leslie Nielsen costar, and acquitted murder suspect has become a fixture of this list, thanks to the first season of American Crime Story, the true-crime spinoff of American Horror Story, which focuses on his controversial trial. 20 2016 ICC World Twenty20
430,578 
If there is one thing to show how powerful the Indian presence on the English Wikipedia is, it would be cricket. I mean sure, cricket's popular in England, but English topics don't usually make it up here. Twenry20 cricket is a leaner, faster version of the game that lasts for three hours instead of three days (no, that isn't an exaggeration) and has made it a bit more like baseball. And this year, the world championship is being held in India, with the final on April 3. 21 Zootopia
411,169 
This animated film was released on March 4 to critical acclaim, and has grossed over $600 million worldwide as of March 23. It easily beat 10 Cloverfield Lane (#4) at the box office for the second time this week, but young kids don't use Wikipedia as much as science fiction fans, I suppose. 22 Frank Sinatra, Jr.
410,265 
The son of Frank Sinatra and brother of Nancy Sinatra died this week at the age of 72. When you not only are the son but share the name of one of the most beloved singers of all time, it takes a certain bravery to follow in dad's footsteps, but Frank Jr managed to carve out a decent career for himself all the same. 23 2016 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament
398,709 
This annual college basketball tournament is also known as "March Madness", which to me always sounded like a fire sale at Macy's. 24 Daylight Saving Time 
397,977 
Here's something you probably didn't know: daylight saving time isn't for farmers. In fact farmers have never needed nor used it. It was originally started by the Germans as a fuel-saving measure during World War I; but these days, when we spend our night hours glued to our tablets and running our 24/7 central heating, its efficacy in that regard has been disputed. 25 WrestleMania 32
395,288 
WWE's annual pay-per-view pantomime will take place on April 3, 2016, at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas and, apparently, will feature Roman Reigns (pictured). He's on the poster anyway. I'm sure it will be very expensive.
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Exclusions
edit- This list excludes the Wikipedia main page, non-article pages (such as redlinks), and anomalous entries (such as DDoS attacks or likely automated views). Since mobile view data became available to the Report in October 2014, we also exclude articles that have almost no mobile views (~2% or less) or almost all mobile views (~95% or more) because they are very likely to be automated views based on our experience and research of the issue. Please feel free to discuss any removal on the talk page if you wish.
- Note: If you came here from the Signpost article, please take any discussion of exclusions to this article's talk page.