Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (February 11 to 17, 2024)
editPrepared with commentary by Igordebraga, CAWylie, Ollieisanerd, Shuipzv3, GeorgeBailey, and Bucket of sulfuric acid
Ah, Kansas City
Gonna get my baby back home, yeah-yeah
I'm going to Kansas City
Gonna get my baby back home, yeah-yeah
Well, it's a long, long time since my baby's been gone...
Rank Article Class Views Image Notes/about 1 Patrick Mahomes 2,486,936 The star quarterback of the Kansas City Chiefs (#20) led his team into Super Bowl LVIII (#7) with the aim of becoming back-to-back Super Bowl champions. Their opponents, the San Francisco 49ers, took the lead for most of the game, but the Chiefs fought back hard, with Mahomes making several crucial plays to level the score and eventually sending the game into overtime in the last seconds of the fourth quarter, then making the game-winning pass to seal victory for the Chiefs. Mahomes was also named the Super Bowl MVP, which he also won in his other two Super Bowl wins (with the most recent also against the 49ers). In his post-game speech, Mahomes declared his intent to win three Super Bowls in a row, a feat no team has achieved. 2 Usher (musician) 2,404,225 Peace up, A-town down! Usher Raymond was the performer of the big game's halftime show (#18), having to clear off the high bar set by this (and yes, that song was in the set list) with plenty of hits and special appearances by Alicia Keys (#21), H.E.R., Ludacris and Lil Jon (and wonder if Usher only didn't play "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love" because that would require bringing in Pitbull). 3 Travis Kelce 2,232,171 The star tight end of the Chiefs and boyfriend of #5 went viral for his appearance in #7 for the wrong reason. During a part of the game where he is benched, the Chiefs ended up fumbling the ball. Clearly disagreeing with Chiefs head coach Andy Reid's (#17) decision to sideline him, Kelce proceeds to march up to his coach and shouted in his face, as well as making contact which caused Reid to stumble. Still, there appeared to be no "Bad Blood" between the two, with Reid later playing down the incident. Kelce went on to make the most receptions and yards in the game on the way to his third Super Bowl victory. 4 Madame Web (film) 2,081,146 Sony's Spider-Man Universe already provided a low point in comic book movies with Morbius, and both critics and audiences are agreeing they did it again with Madame Web (co-written by the Morbius writers, making many people question how those two still get work). Dakota Johnson is Cassandra Webb, a paramedic who discovers premonitory powers and decides to use them to save three teenagers from a maniac intent on killing them - and given those three women are three of the ladies who in the comics answered to "Spider-Woman', the marketing made sure to show them in costume, that in the movie itself only appear in visions! And as a reminder of why filmgoers bothered with this movie there are plenty of allusions to Spider-Man, from the costume worn by the bad guy to the fact that Cassie's partner is Ben Parker, about to earn a promotion to Uncle Ben given he is taking in his home his pregnant sister-in-law Mary. Along with negative reviews, Madame Web had an unimpressive opening that couldn't overtake Bob Marley: One Love (#14) and is still halfway through its budget with $50 million worldwide. And the SSU still has two movies this year, and while Venom 3 in November should at least make money and give another unhinged Tom Hardy performance, the delayed Kraven the Hunter in August is the make-it-or-break-it point regarding Columbia Pictures doing Spider-Man movies without the Webhead. 5 Taylor Swift 1,847,552 Following much speculation, the pop superstar did make it to #7 to cheer on her boyfriend (#3) and his team (#20), together with a group of her friends including #16 and #24. Following the Chiefs' victory, the couple were spotted partying through the night in Las Vegas, before she resumes her Eras Tour in Melbourne, Australia. 6 List of Super Bowl champions 1,812,814 The Kansas City Chiefs (#20) added their name to the list two years in a row, winning an overtime thriller in Las Vegas. Can they make it three in a row? 7 Super Bowl LVIII 1,775,252 The 58th iteration of #10 took place in Las Vegas and was nicknamed the "Taylor Swift Bowl" due to the extensive media attention on her relationship with #3. The game got off on a slow start with a scoreless first quarter, before the San Francisco 49ers took the lead in the second. The Chiefs fought back to take the lead in the third quarter, but the 49ers regained the lead not long after, though a failed conversion gave the Chiefs the chance to equalize the score with a field goal. The 49ers took the lead again with their own field goal, and in the final nail-biting seconds of the fourth quarter, the Chiefs scored another field goal to send the game into overtime. The 49ers possessed the ball first, but ended up stalling and settled for a field goal. The Chiefs fought their way to the end zone, and scored the game-winning touchdown to win 25–22. This match broke several records for the Super Bowl, including the longest field goal in Super Bowl history (57 yards, or 52 meters for pretty much the rest of the world), and became the most watched television broadcast in the United States (123.7 million viewers on average, which was attributed in part to #5). 8 Valentine's Day 1,555,915 A cheerful day for couples around the world, and a sad reminder of loneliness for those without romantic partners. 9 Alexei Navalny 1,492,658 On February 16, the announcement came that the Russian opposition leader, imprisoned since December 2023 at a labor colony in the Russian Arctic, had died. Almost immediately, tributes flowed in and protests took place in many cities around the world. Though his cause of death has not been revealed, many world leaders in the West laid the blame squarely on Russian president Vladimir Putin. 10 Super Bowl 1,281,816 Everyone who doesn't care about gridiron certainly wished we could discuss some Superb Owls instead. 11 Brock Purdy 1,154,227 Arizona native Brock Purdy spent four years at Iowa State before becoming the "Mr. Irrelevant" of the 2022 NFL Draft. In just his second year as a professional, he led the 49ers to their eight Super Bowl appearance. 12 Griselda Blanco 1,079,540 When people weren't watching the Super Bowl and researching Blanco, they were watching Griselda starring Sofía Vergara, which is still the most-watched Netflix series in the world for last week. 13 Deaths in 2024 974,611 "I don't believe in death, neither in flesh nor in spirit." – Bob Marley 14 Bob Marley 917,973 Bob Marley, poet and a prophet
Bob Marley, taught me how to off it
Bob Marley, walkin' like he talk it
Kingsley Ben-Adir plays the iconic Jamaican singer who made the world discover reggae, if not his country as a whole, in the biographical movie Bob Marley: One Love, that hit American theaters during #8, and in spite of mixed reviews deeming it an uninspired by-the-numbers biopic opened atop the box office and has currently earned over $80 million worldwide.15 Steve Wright (DJ) 870,190 The English radio DJ died suddenly aged 69 on February 12, one day after hosting his final radio show after over forty years of presenting. 16 Ice Spice 831,256 The rapper looked hilariously out of place joining #5, #24 and several others who couldn't make it to this list in a Super Bowl suite to cheer on the Kansas City Chiefs, and as usual the internet came up with many memes. 17 Andy Reid 822,393 The head coach of #20, nicknamed "Big Red", won his third Super Bowl this week. 18 List of Super Bowl halftime shows 745,646 #2 was actually making his second appearance in one of those, 12 years after the much derided show by the Black Eyed Peas. Both times had Usher singing "OMG" with its composer will.i.am. 19 Christian McCaffrey 679,871 Ending his first full year as a 49er running back, CMC became the first player in Super Bowl history to have at least 75 rushing yards and 75 receiving yards in the same game. If the 49ers would've let him run off some time before the end of regulation play, there might've been a different outcome. 20 Kansas City Chiefs 678,812 With the Chiefs' victory at #7, the team became the first team to win back-to-back Super Bowls since the New England Patriots won in the 2003 season and 2004 season. Many commentators are calling it a dynasty, and the team's quarterback (#1) has declared they are not done and are aiming for an unprecedented three Super Bowls in a row. 21 Alicia Keys 662,472 She appeared as a special guest during Usher's (#2) Super Bowl halftime show, singing "If I Ain't Got You" and "My Boo". Debate was raised when her voice cracked at a point of the former song, even prompting the YouTube upload to have a vocal correction. 22 Ash Wednesday 623,404 The first day of Lent fell on the same day as #8 this year, both taking place on February 14. The two holidays will coincide again in 2029. 23 2024 Pakistani general election 612,115 One week after former Prime Minister Imran Khan won a majority of the National Assembly seats, coalitions were formed to fully investigate electoral fraud and the PTA's shutting down PTI internet access and limiting its cell phone service during the election. Numerous members of various parties also jumped political boats. 24 Blake Lively 610,417 The actress and close friend of Taylor Swift (who named the characters in her song "Betty" after Lively's daughters) cheered for #20 alongside #5, #16 and several others. She is also married to Ryan Reynolds, who debuted the trailer to the upcoming Marvel film Deadpool & Wolverine (which would be #27, behind this whole list and season 4 of True Detective) at the Super Bowl and as usual had a funny social media post as marketing. 25 Kelvin Kiptum 588,176 The renowned Kenyan athlete and the marathon world record holder died at age 24, along with his coach Gervais Hakizimana, in a car crash in his home country on February 11. He had set the world record in the Chicago marathon only four months earlier.