The Top 25 Report
Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (November 8 to 14, 2015)
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Summary: The tragedy in Paris, of course, had an impact on the list this week, but a surprisingly muted one. Only three articles in the top 25 were linked to the event, with the vast majority of entries being carry-overs from previous weeks or, in some cases, years. While cynicism, as always, is easy, with so many entries devoted to pop culture and consumerism that, in the face of such horror, seems banal, there is some nobility in the fact that, rather than let the nightmare top the list, we instead gave it to Hedy Lamarr's unsung contribution to the development of wireless technology, and that we didn't let current conflicts affect our annual commemoration of those who have died in past ones. It seems only fitting that the Hindu festival of Diwali, which signifies the victory of light over darkness, made its annual appearance this week. The very predictability of its return became an act of defiance.
As prepared by Serendipodous, for the week of November 8 to 14, 2015, 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 Hedy Lamarr 
2,744,601 
I have to say, before researching this entry, my knowledge of this multitalented screen goddess began and ended with a running gag in Blazing Saddles. Despite living almost into the current century, she had basically retired before I was born and so never connected with my generation. Still, she was a remarkable woman; not only pioneering sexual content onscreen in the 1933 film Ecstasy but also inventing a forerunner of Bluetooth and wireless technology that was employed by the US military in the Cuban Missile Crisis. This unsung achievement was celebrated in a Google Doodle on her 101st birthday on November 9. 2 November 2015 Paris attacks
1,237,935 
This event is moving at the speed of news, and so what I write will be obsolete by the time it is published. Even now though, the facts are staggering. The first suicide attack in French history; their worst mass killing since World War II; the worst attack in Europe since the Madrid train bombings more than a decade ago. Despite it bearing all the hallmarks of an al-Qaeda attack, the killing has been "credited" to the murderous quasi-state ISIL. If that is true, then that is dark news indeed; it means they have managed to project themselves far beyond their claimed borders, and can draw other nations into their nightmare at will. France have already escalated their war in Syria in response, much, I am sure, as ISIL expected. Whether they or anyone else can finally put an end to the horror is still unknown. 3 Spectre (2015 film) 
1,199,500 
Holding steady at #3 for a third week, with an 11% jump in views. The British are not known as titans of the filmmaking world, but they have staked their claim with this latest in their defining James Bond series. The budget, topping $300 million, makes this the most expensive film ever made without the words "Pirates of the Caribbean" in front of it. After the last Bond film made over a billion dollars, it seems the proudly British producers have confidence enough to stand apart from Hollywood, premièring the film in six national territories- but not the US. That's not to say it didn't do well when it finally opened Stateside; it has held on to the top spot in its second week, and has, as of November 17, made almost $550 million worldwide. 4 Diwali
1,002,136 
The Hindu festival of light, which draws attention to the inner light beyond the material body, the Atman, has had to coexist with some fairly grim events of late. Last year, it was beaten to the top spot by the West African Ebola outbreak, and this year saw it shadowed by the Paris terror attacks. Still, we would, I am sure, appreciate a light for those we've lost as the Western world enters its own holiday season. 5 Prem Ratan Dhan Payo 
920,622 
Salman Khan (pictured) is having a good year. His Eid opener Bajrangi Bhaijaan is currently the second-highest-grossing Bollywood film of all time, and now this Diwali event film has beaten that film's record-breaking opening day, taking Rs 400 million ($6.1 million). 6 Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant
896,501 
If they are to be believed, the repellent non-state has finally managed to extend its war beyond its shredded borders and into the heart of the West. This is an unprecedented escalation from them, but then, if there's one thing they've proven themselves good at in the last few years, it's unprecedented escalation. Some see it as desperation; ISIL have suffered numerous substantial losses from bombing and Kurdish incursions. Others have pondered if it marks the first shot in a new generational conflict. 7 Eagles of Death Metal
887,314 
The morbid fantasies of death metal came too close to reality this week when this Californian band found itself at the epicentre of the worst of the Paris attacks, at Le Bataclan club. While the band members made it out alive, one of their employees was among the dead. 8 Fallout 4
880,018 Bethesda Softworks' hugely anticipated continuation of their darkly humorous post-apocalyptic open world role-playing video game series sold over a million copies (to a tune of roughly $750 million) in its first 24 hours of release. 9 Deaths in 2015 
591,281 
The viewing figures for this article have been remarkably constant; fluctuating week to week between 450 and 550 thousand on average, apparently heedless of who actually died. Numbers this week are unusually high, however; perhaps death is in the air. 10 Veterans Day
581,396 
The eleventh day of the eleventh month, when peace was declared after the hell of World War I, has been recognised for decades as a time to remember the dead of war. In the US, it is known as Veterans Day, while in the Commonwealth, it is known as Remembrance Day (see below). 11 Remembrance Day
518,251 
The name for Armistice Day in the Commonwealth (see above) 12 Daniel Craig 
406,057 
The Bond of #3. 13 Ben Carson
393,998 
The soft-spoken neurosurgeon and U.S. Republican Presidential candidate has risen to the top of a number of national polls, and thus inviting more attention and scrutiny. His most recent bit of scrutiny involves his flatly incorrect claim that China is involved in Syria, when it is arguably the only major power that isn't involved there in some fashion. Still, every debate continues to grant him more Twitter followers, so there's that. 14 The Walking Dead (season 6)
392,153 
The acclaimed AMC series had its latest episode on November 8. 15 Ronda Rousey
388,759 
Last time she was on here, the UFC women's bantamweight champion topped the list with over 2 million hits. The reason for the steep decline may have to do with the fact that she isn't the UFC women's bantamweight champion anymore. That's right; this week, at UFC 193, the photogenic fighting phenomenon ended her 12-fight streak and handed her title to Holly Holm in a shocking second-round knockout. They say that your true fiends will stay by you when you're down, and I think Wikipedia has shown who Rousey's true friends are. 16 Adele
378,266 
The popular singer's new album 25 will be released on November 20. The first single, "Hello", debuted on October 23. As of this writing, the video for "Hello" already has over 400 million views. 17 Star Wars: The Force Awakens
371,109 
If you've caught the press coverage about this upcoming movie here and there, you may be asking yourself, is this thing ever coming out? A poster and new trailer was released a few weeks ago. For those us not that closely involved, the answer is that it rolls out in parts of Europe on December 16, the U.K. on December 17, and North America on December 18. 18 One-Punch Man
371,109 
Anime is, not to put too fine a point on it, bonkers. No, really; as an artform it is collectively certifiable. As such, when an anime shows up whose sole purpose is to jack the bonkers up past the point of parody (assuming anime was capable of being parodied in the first place) it's not surprising that it catches the eye of its Western admirers. This new series, currently running, has been described as the next cross-cultural hit, ala Attack on Titan, itself not consistent with its medication. 19 Pablo Escobar
366,142 
Fascination with the Netflix series Narcos continues to keep the Capone of cocaine on the Top 25. 20 Purpose (Justin Bieber album)
361,041 
Hm. In all honesty I didn't think this kid had another album in him; certainly not one that would draw the attention of over 350,000 people. But he did, and it was released on November 13. 21 Steve Jobs
360,956 
Steve Jobs died four years ago, and the latest entry to the mind-boggling list of artistic depictions of Steve Jobs is the movie Steve Jobs, which opened in New York and Los Angeles on October 9, and finally got its British premiere on November 13. Writer Aaron Sorkin also previously tackled Facebook in The Social Network. Can a film about Wikipedia be far behind? Jobs director Danny Boyle has already said he's in favor of it. Could Chris Pratt as Jimbo Wales be far off? 22 United States
360,094 
This article is often just outside the Top 25, but only occasionally makes it. 23 Krampus
358,274 
In the German-speaking regions of the Alps, children are told not only of jolly Saint Nick with his sack of toys; they are also told of Krampus, whose sack is empty, waiting to be filled with naughty children who will then be carried to his lair. He isn't the only "anti-Santa" out there; the Dutch have Zwarte Piet, and the Haitians have Tonton Macoute, but Krampus's demonic appearance caught the eye of America last year, where he became a leering antidote to the oversaturation of manufactured Christmas cheer, and this year, it seems he's back, no doubt aided by an upcoming movie. 24 Master of None
350,219 
This new comedy series starring Aziz Ansari (pictured) premièred in its entirety on Netflix on November 6. 25 Call of Duty: Black Ops III
347,270 
This military science-fiction first-person shooter videogame, the twelfth Call of Duty game, was released on November 6. It has received generally positive reviews.
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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.