Elon Musk
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Investors driving Teslaโs stock higher allowed Musk to overtake Amazonโs Jeff Bezos as the worldโs richest person.
American politics
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American politics and politicians dominated many of the top articles in January. First, the attack on the US capitol then weeks later, the inauguration of Joe Biden as president.
Captain Tom
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The 100-year-old WWII veteran, who made international headlines in 2020 for raising over ยฃ30 million for the UKโs National Health Service, died in February.
American Civil War Widows
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Reddit can drive significant traffic to an article, as was the case in February with pages for American Civil War widows who survived into the 21st century and in January, the page of disgraced American businessman Larry Hillblom.
Dr. Seuss
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Dr. Seuss Enterprises announced it would stop publishing six Seuss books due to insensitive imagery, including And to Think That I Saw it on Mulberry Street and If I Ran the Zoo.
Meghan, Duchess of Sussex
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Oprahโs interview with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex brought royal controversy to US prime time and stoked public fascination with Meghan Markle.
Derek Chauvin
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The former Minneapolis police officer was found guilty on April 21 of murdering George Floyd in 2020. He was later sentenced to 22.5 years in jail.
Bernie Madoff
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High-profile deaths drove traffic in April. These included fraudster Bernie Madoff, actress Helen McCrory, rapper DMX, and Prince Philip.
Halston
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The popularity of some peopleโs pages was prompted by the release of related Netflix shows, as was the case with David Berkowitz (a.k.a. Son of Sam) and fashion designer Halston.
T. B. Joshua
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The Nigerian pastor and head of a Christian megachurch was a controversial figure widely known across Africa and Latin America.
UEFA Euro 2020
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The pandemic-postponed 2020 European football championship aired in June and July, ending with a historic face-off between Italy and England.
Jeff Bezos
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The billionaire stepped down as the CEO of Amazon on July 5, but he received more attention on July 20th when he flew to space on his Blue Origin New Shepard rocket.
2020 Summer Olympics
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The postponed Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics and its athletes dominated Wikipedia views in July and August.
Neeraj Chopra
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The track and field athlete is only the second Indian to have win an individual Olympic gold medal.
Taliban
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The Taliban regained control of Afghanistan on August 15. By the end of the month, US troops left the country, ending their nearly 20-year mission there.
Emma Raducanu
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The British tennis player became the youngest athlete since Maria Sharapova to win a Grand Slam title. Raducanu beat Leylah Fernandez to claim the US Open.
Squid Game
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The violent Korean-language thriller about contestants playing life-or-death games for a chance at riches became Netflixโs most-watched show ever.
Alec Baldwin
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Halyna Hutchins was killed on the film set of Rust when a prop gun that wasnโt supposed to be loaded discharged as actor Alec Baldwin was handling it.
Kenosha unrest shooting
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On Nov. 19, Kyle Rittenhouse was found not guilty of shooting and killing two men during earlier protests in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Virgil Abloh
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The high-profile Ghanaian-American fashion designer died of Cancer on Nov. 28, leaving a creative legacy that involved bridge-building across industries.
Georges Seurat
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The subject of the dayโs Google Doodle often drives significant traffic to Wikipedia, as was the case with this French post-Impressionist artist.
Spider-Man: No Way Home
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The newest Marvel movieโs $260 million box office debut broke pandemic records and was the second-biggest opening of all time, behind Avengers: Endgame.