The Year of Death and unreleased, not to be released anytime in the near future Taxes
Let's face it, 2016 was a disaster of an excuse for a year. 2016 is now done and over with, though, and it's good riddance. With plenty of tragic, um, political or just plain overmemeified (that's not a word, is it) news to go around, I think that almost everyone is glad that 2016 is over. I suppose there was some good stuff, but not enough to justify everything else that happened.
Based on the WP:5000 yearly report, with commentary by A lad insane and Igordebraga, with a bit of copying and pasting from other reports.
Rank Article Class Views Image Notes Peak day 1 Donald Trump 
75,965,727 
He was elected president of the United States on November 8, 2016. Well, not really, but conservatives seem to accept the severely unfair and screwed-up ways of the Electoral College because their "person" won. It seems like just four years ago they were saying it was OF THE DEVIL. How superficial. I want to move to Canada. (Or New Zealand.) And I would if I wasn't 12. Being a minor is frequently quite inconvenient. Nov. 9
(election results)2 Deaths in 2016 
35,911,398 
2016 was absolutely horrible in terms of celebrity deaths; David Bowie, Alan Rickman, Glenn Frey, Prince, Muhammad Ali, Gene Wilder, Leonard Cohen, John Glenn, George Michael, Carrie Fisher (and then her mum), the list continues... Dec. 27
(death of our #24)3 Prince (musician) 
22,793,889 
Died on 21 April of a fentanyl overdose at the age of 57, leaving the world with a lot of widely acclaimed music, and a new Wikipedia record, with his article accumulating 16,561,273 views in a 7-day period, which broke the article. To my knowledge, however, it was only the one article that broke. Unlike some others. Thanks for breaking Wikipedia, Conrad Murray! Apr. 21
(death)4 United States presidential election, 2016
22,063,171 
"No. No. That's not true. That's impossible!" "Search your feelings. You know it to be true."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Enough said. Moving on...
Nov. 9
(election results)5 Suicide Squad (film)
19,435,260 
The most viewed film article of the year is this adaptation of the DC Comics title about a team of supervillain convicts recruited for black ops suicide missions. Even if reviewers hated how the movie is an overall mess regarding tone, writing, etc., audiences still made it the 10th highest-grossing flick of the year. Aug. 5
(US release)6 List of Bollywood films of 2016
19,285,100 
Generally a popular yearly list article, often slightly below the Top 25 in weekly reports but has collected enough long-term views to be awarded this small box explaining this. Such a glorious award. May 28 7 David Bowie 
19,039,110 
David Robert Jones died and left for Mars on 10 January 2016, having released his last album just two days before his untimely death. He left the world with many albums and movies, a new Wikipedia record (for the week of January 10–16, 12,006,245 views, which was then broken by Prince}, and a world trying to confirm a paranormal/Illuminati connection because of the song Girl Loves Me (involving a coincidence that had a 1 in 7 chance of happening, given the lyrics, but probably less if you take into account for the fact that it was the very next week, so probably 1 in 30, which is still not that unlikely) and the also untimely death of Alan Rickman later the same week. Admittedly, there are a lot of similarities (they both were British performing-arts males that died of cancer within a week of each other that had to do with spiders and lightning bolts) but not enough to go running to the Daily Mail with your precious "I have proof that David Bowie was involved with the Illuminati" stories. People. Seriously. Quit it with the Illuminati stuff. Um, anyway, ending that squirrel... Jan. 11
(death)8 Melania Trump
18,946,792 
Summed up in one word: eesh. The next First Lady of the United States, who will begin in office next January, has been surrounded by controversy, as well as many other people involved in the same upcoming administration. Nov. 9
(election results)9 Captain America: Civil War 
18,693,046 
Marvel Comics continues to hit big in adaptations of their characters with the third Captain America (played by Chris Evans, pictured) film, which is effectually "Avengers 2.5" given it follows the plot of the second superhero team-up and brings most of its cast back - though as the title indicates, the heroes are mostly battling each other. Civil War was the biggest hit of the year ($1,153 billion worldwide) with also the good reviews Marvel's "Distinguished Competition" struggles to get. Speaking of DC... May 12
(one week after US release)10 Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
18,548,575 
Batman and Superman finally got together in the same movie, and even brought Wonder Woman along! Too bad it wasn't done in the way most people would've preferred, with an overtly grim tone and sloppy writing mostly concerned with vague philosophizing and setting up more DC Extended Universe movies. Batman v Superman divided fans and displeased critics. Still, it made the money would expect from two iconic characters, with $873.3 million worldwide. Mar. 25
(US release)11 Hillary Clinton
17,801,991 
The unsuccessful Democratic candidate for president of the United States (who should have won, I mean, she sucked too but not as badly). Her would-be status as president raises the question: What would Bill Clinton's status have been if she had won? Nov. 9
(election results)12 Deadpool (film)
16,917,412 
Marvel might have started their own studio for movies such as our #9, but 20th Century Fox still has the film rights to the X-Men. And the franchise's biggest success has become this bloody, bawdy, profane, and cheap ($58 million, less expensive even than the first X-Men back in 2000) production revolving around an insane and trigger-happy anti-hero, which critics liked and audiences made the highest-grossing R-rated film ever ($783.1 worldwide). By contrast, the more traditional effort X-Men: Apocalypse had a less positive reception, with mixed reviews, lower box office ($543.9 million against a $178 million budget) and views on Wikipedia (11.16 million, only enough for #41). Feb. 15
(Monday after release)13 Elizabeth II
16,815,631 
The queen of England and related commonwealth, she secures her place here due to a biographical drama about her early years called The Crown that aired its first season on British TV during 2016. Nov. 5
(day after The Crown season finale)14 United States
16,513,889 
Perennially popular article, which typically gets at least 35,000 views per day, with a peak in popularity in November (see #1, #4, #8, #11, et cetera). Nov. 9
(election results)15 Muhammad Ali
16.308.946 
This world-famous boxer, often called one of the greatest athletes ever, died on June 3 of Parkinson's disease - related to brain injuries sustained during his fighting career - at the age of 74. Jun. 4
(death)16 Pablo Escobar
16.217.248 
Season 2 of Narcos showed more about the infamous Medellín cartel chief, including his death in 1993. Sep. 5
(three days after Narcos S2)17 Barack Obama
16.007.138 
It was Obama's last year in office, and many are unhappy to think he will be replaced as president by someone who liked to question whether Obama was really born in America. Nov. 9
(election results)18 Game of Thrones
15.741.927 
HBO's hit adaptation of George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire novels continues to draw in viewers to this world filled with sex, blood, dragons, zombies, and terrible things happening to any character who draws the audience sympathy. Jun. 26
(season finale)19 The Revenant (2015 film)
15.083.685 
A semi-biographical adaptation where Leonardo DiCaprio (pictured - and #29 on the list, with 13,02 million views) suffers profusely, from bear maulings to being dragged in the cold, The Revenant rode all the hype from leading the award season to become a financial success ($533 million worldwide), and even won Leo that elusive Oscar. It only couldn't get the Academy Award for Best Picture, beaten by the much more modest Spotlight (which finished the year with 6.093.146 views). Feb. 29
(day after Oscars)20 UEFA Euro 2016
14.493.352 
Association football continues to draw much more attention than the American variety, with high views for the quadrennial European tournament of nations. Superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who in 2004 saw his Portugal squad lose at home to a low-scoring team, this time led a low-scoring Portuguese team to a title over hosts France. Jun. 24
(group stage last day)21 Star Wars: The Force Awakens
14.175.449 
Episode VII of Star Wars, directed by J. J. Abrams and drawing heavily from the original trilogy, hit theaters in December 2015, and by the following year was on the way to becoming the highest-grossing movie not directed by James Cameron. It was the first under Disney ownership, and the studio wants to make the franchise an yearly offering: 2016 had side story Rogue One (#31 on the list, with 12.6 million views) and Episode VIII comes in December 2017. Jan. 6
(becomes highest-grossing film in US)22 Game of Thrones (season 6)
14.126.426 
Unlike author George R. R. Martin, who did not finish sixth novel The Winds of Winter, the showrunners of HBO's adaptation (#18) completed in time the ten episodes that comprise the sixth part of the television adaptation. Wonder if the book will eventually have major differences. Jun. 26
(season finale)23 2016 Summer Olympics
14,026,668 
Sports are always popular among Wikipedians, and this was no exception. Tens of thousands of athletes went to Brazil to fight for some medals, and with many events, a few scandals and other things that news media love to cover, people flocked to the article in droves to either find the latest scores or the latest updates on the scandals. Aug. 6
(first day)24 Carrie Fisher
13,923,993 
Princess Leia passed away on 27 December 2016 after drowning in moonlight, having been strangled by her own bra. (or going into cardiac arrest on a plane, whichever, I like the first one.) her initial heart attack occurred on December 23, and people who were (rightfully) sick and tired of people dying hoped that she wouldn't join them. Then, they were distracted by a cruel twist: George Michael had died. While they were in private mourning for this sadly ironic twist of fate, the penultimate blow struck, and she died. Then her mother as well. It seemed to end after that, but everyone was thankful for the new year. ...then silently cursed 2017 as well. Dec. 27
(death)25 O. J. Simpson
13,795,907 
The world's most famous accused-murderer-turned-robber claims the last spot on the list thanks to both a documentary and a true crime TV series featuring his controversial trial for murder in the 1990s. Feb. 3
(days after ACS debut)
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- Exclusions
Typical exclusions apply - the Main Page and mobile views either too low (under 10%) or high (over 90%).