Wikipedia:Top 25 Report/February 14 to 20, 2021

Most Popular Wikipedia Articles of the Week (February 14 to 20, 2021)
Prepared with commentary by, and 

February goes on, and things are still slow, with people only checking out on celebrity deaths (or close calls), streaming shows, future movies and sports. Can't get out of this "new normal" soon enough!


 * {| class="wikitable"

! Rank ! Article ! Class ! Views ! Image ! Notes/about
 * 1
 * Rush Limbaugh
 * 2,235,167
 * Rush Limbaugh February 2020.jpg
 * Limbaugh, a wildly successful talk radio host and iconoclastic conservative figure, passed away this last Wednesday. Online discourse was divided; some people insisted on not speaking ill of the dead, while others wanted to hold their crab rave and bring up Limbaugh's many misdeeds - including speaking ill of gay people that had died of AIDS.
 * 2
 * Death of Elisa Lam
 * 1,444,914
 * Killed a poorman.jpg
 * "An irresponsible, bloated mess"; "ghoulish and unsavoury"; "wallowing in pseudo-science and non-science". Surprisingly enough, these are not ways in which people have described Rush Limbaugh (or at least they've never used those exact words), but reviews for Netflix's new docuseries Crime Scene.
 * 1,444,914
 * Killed a poorman.jpg
 * "An irresponsible, bloated mess"; "ghoulish and unsavoury"; "wallowing in pseudo-science and non-science". Surprisingly enough, these are not ways in which people have described Rush Limbaugh (or at least they've never used those exact words), but reviews for Netflix's new docuseries Crime Scene.
 * "An irresponsible, bloated mess"; "ghoulish and unsavoury"; "wallowing in pseudo-science and non-science". Surprisingly enough, these are not ways in which people have described Rush Limbaugh (or at least they've never used those exact words), but reviews for Netflix's new docuseries Crime Scene.

Lam went missing while staying at Los Angeles's Cecil Hotel, a spot which was already infamous for a legacy of homicide and seedy behavior, in February 2013. A security video showed her behaving erratically in an elevator; less than a month later, she was found dead in the hotel's water tank. This mysterious death is the subject of Crime Scene, released February 10. As mentioned before, the series has earned itself less fans than the hotel where she died. Plus, it apparently lacks positive role models.
 * 3
 * WandaVision
 * 1,356,722
 * rowspan=2|Kathryn Hahn - "She's Funny That Way" red carpet - -Venezia71.jpg
 * rowspan="2"| This Disney+ series, the first installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe since 2019, has delivered week after week of twists - the latest being the introduction of a clear antagonist.
 * 4
 * Agatha Harkness
 * 1,318,728
 * 5
 * Naomi Osaka
 * 1,310,372
 * Osaka-2020 (cropped).png
 * Osaka won the women's singles tournament at the Australian Open, which took place over the week. Along the way, she defeated America's only celebrity tennis player (#19.)
 * 6
 * Cecil Hotel (Los Angeles)
 * 1,123,320
 * rowspan=2| Hotel Cecil (Stay on Main) (29526138711).jpg
 * rowspan=2|The scary setting of any retelling of #2.
 * 7
 * List of deaths and violence at the Cecil Hotel
 * 973,285
 * 8
 * Deaths in 2021
 * 836,959
 * [[File:A skull in a drinking glass at the steering wheel of a motor Wellcome L0026402.jpg|100px]]
 * And them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye Singin', "This'll be the day that I die"
 * 9
 * Ted Cruz
 * 812,763
 * 200304-H-NI589-068 (49621925531).jpg
 * This week, Texas was hit by a once-in-a-generation winter storm. Everyone turning up their heaters, coupled with most power suppliers freezing, strained the state's power infrastructure, causing widespread blackouts. Dozens of deaths have been reported so far. Governor Abbott blamed the not-enacted-by-any-government Green New Deal, the mayor of Colorado City told his constituents to stop looking for handouts, and Senator Cruz took his family on vacation to Cancún.
 * 8
 * Deaths in 2021
 * 836,959
 * [[File:A skull in a drinking glass at the steering wheel of a motor Wellcome L0026402.jpg|100px]]
 * And them good ol' boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye Singin', "This'll be the day that I die"
 * 9
 * Ted Cruz
 * 812,763
 * 200304-H-NI589-068 (49621925531).jpg
 * This week, Texas was hit by a once-in-a-generation winter storm. Everyone turning up their heaters, coupled with most power suppliers freezing, strained the state's power infrastructure, causing widespread blackouts. Dozens of deaths have been reported so far. Governor Abbott blamed the not-enacted-by-any-government Green New Deal, the mayor of Colorado City told his constituents to stop looking for handouts, and Senator Cruz took his family on vacation to Cancún.
 * 812,763
 * 200304-H-NI589-068 (49621925531).jpg
 * This week, Texas was hit by a once-in-a-generation winter storm. Everyone turning up their heaters, coupled with most power suppliers freezing, strained the state's power infrastructure, causing widespread blackouts. Dozens of deaths have been reported so far. Governor Abbott blamed the not-enacted-by-any-government Green New Deal, the mayor of Colorado City told his constituents to stop looking for handouts, and Senator Cruz took his family on vacation to Cancún.
 * This week, Texas was hit by a once-in-a-generation winter storm. Everyone turning up their heaters, coupled with most power suppliers freezing, strained the state's power infrastructure, causing widespread blackouts. Dozens of deaths have been reported so far. Governor Abbott blamed the not-enacted-by-any-government Green New Deal, the mayor of Colorado City told his constituents to stop looking for handouts, and Senator Cruz took his family on vacation to Cancún.

After getting caught, Cruz booked the first flight home and explained that he was only escorting his preteen daughters to a resort they insisted on going to.
 * 10
 * Valentine's Day
 * 748,353
 * 3203Valentines Day in Baliuag Bulacan 08.jpg
 * This holiday, adored by the lovers and scorned by the single, fell upon us once again at the top of this week. Users wondered, as they do every year, what St. Valentine did to earn him this day, only to discover that there are two different guys and, like, twenty different stories that it might be dedicated to, and half of them don't even have to do with love. If you were alone on Valentine's Day this year, well, you had an excuse - there's a deadly pandemic. Anyway, a happy Anna Howard Shaw Day to us all!
 * 11
 * Vincent Jackson
 * 732,404
 * Vincent_Jackson_Pro_Bowl_2013.jpg
 * The retired wide receiver for the Chargers and Buccaneers was found dead in a Florida hotel room. He was 38.
 * 12
 * Fred Hampton
 * 689,368
 * Daniel_Kaluuya_(35439676943)_(cropped).jpg
 * Hampton spent his short life empowering the Black community through his involvement with the Black Panthers while building communities that lessened gang violence and provided poor people with necessary resources, so of course the FBI tracked him down and killed him. Judas and the Black Messiah, starring Daniel Kaluuya (pictured) as Hampton, was released on HBO Max on February 12.
 * 13
 * Elon Musk
 * 561,868
 * [[File:Charles Bolden congratulates SpaceX CEO and Chief Designer Elon Musk in front of the historic Dragon capsule.jpg|100px]]
 * The richest (or one of the richest, depending on the day) man in the world spends his days posting about Bit- and Dogecoin.
 * 14
 * Richard Ramirez
 * 545,573
 * Richard_Ramirez_CDCR.jpg
 * The serial killer and star of Netflix's Night Stalker is finally upstaged by another true-crime spectacle.
 * 15
 * Britney Spears
 * 542,816
 * Britney Jean Spears, London 2016.jpg
 * Framing Britney Spears showed how a pop star's rise to fame might be downright traumatizing - Britney hasn't even performed since 2018, saying she is afraid of her father and wasn't going on a stage again while he remained in control of her career.
 * 16
 * Judas and the Black Messiah
 * 539,331
 * Daniel_Kaluuya_(35439676943)_(cropped).jpg
 * Biopic based on #12.
 * 17
 * Elizabeth II
 * 508,595
 * Painting of Queen Elizabeth II by Lorena Ziraldo 2014.jpg
 * Her Majesty owes this appearance to a scare caused by the nearly centenarian Prince Consort (#22) feeling unwell and going to the hospital.
 * 18
 * Zack Snyder's Justice League
 * 507,431
 * SDCC 2015 - Zack Snyder (19524398078).jpg
 * The Justice League that was released in 2017 had Snyder credited as a director, but much of the film was altered in post-production and reshoots by Joss Whedon. Some fans were convinced that the "Snyder cut," which surely existed somewhere, was far better than the lackluster Whedon version. However, due to the way effects-heavy superhero films are produced, the cut was probably far from complete (Folding Ideas has a good video about why.) After $70 million of effects and reshoots, the Snyder cut is finally complete - with a trailer dropping this last Sunday.
 * 19
 * Serena Williams
 * 483,108
 * Australian_Open_2020_(49837600202).jpg
 * Lost to #5.
 * 20
 * Elizabeth Olsen
 * 459,368
 * Elizabeth Olsen 2018.png
 * The "Wanda" in #3.
 * 21
 * Monica Rambeau
 * 443,912
 * SDCC 2012 - Pulsar (7573121162) (cropped).jpg
 * The daughter of Captain Marvel's friend from the military (who in the comics, even owned the Captain Marvel codename for a while) is a major character in #3, portrayed by Teyonah Parris, and just had something very spoilery happen in the newest episode.
 * 22
 * Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
 * 437,396
 * HRH Prince Philip as a Label Stop - geograph.org.uk - 813947.jpg
 * The husband of #17 was admitted to King Edward VII's Hospital on Tuesday. According to Buckingham Palace, this is a "precautionary measure." In any case, granddaughter Eugenie named her son after him, August Philip.
 * 23
 * Perseverance (rover)
 * 420,126
 * PIA23318-Mars2020Rover-OnStand-20190723.jpg
 * NASA's Perseverance landed on Mars on Thursday. The rover carries the first functioning microphones on Mars - but a viral tweet purporting to show that sound is fake.
 * 24
 * Dia Mirza
 * 415,336
 * Dia Mirza photoshoot for World Environment Day.jpg
 * This Bollywood star married a businessman on Monday.
 * 25
 * Mortal Kombat (2021 film)
 * 412,636
 * Anime_Expo_2010_-_LA_-_Sub-Zero_and_Scorpion_from_Mortal_Kombat_(4837248410).jpg
 * 24 years after the embarrassing Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, the ultraviolent fighting games will have another go at the big screen, which just had its trailer released.
 * }
 * 443,912
 * SDCC 2012 - Pulsar (7573121162) (cropped).jpg
 * The daughter of Captain Marvel's friend from the military (who in the comics, even owned the Captain Marvel codename for a while) is a major character in #3, portrayed by Teyonah Parris, and just had something very spoilery happen in the newest episode.
 * 22
 * Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh
 * 437,396
 * HRH Prince Philip as a Label Stop - geograph.org.uk - 813947.jpg
 * The husband of #17 was admitted to King Edward VII's Hospital on Tuesday. According to Buckingham Palace, this is a "precautionary measure." In any case, granddaughter Eugenie named her son after him, August Philip.
 * 23
 * Perseverance (rover)
 * 420,126
 * PIA23318-Mars2020Rover-OnStand-20190723.jpg
 * NASA's Perseverance landed on Mars on Thursday. The rover carries the first functioning microphones on Mars - but a viral tweet purporting to show that sound is fake.
 * 24
 * Dia Mirza
 * 415,336
 * Dia Mirza photoshoot for World Environment Day.jpg
 * This Bollywood star married a businessman on Monday.
 * 25
 * Mortal Kombat (2021 film)
 * 412,636
 * Anime_Expo_2010_-_LA_-_Sub-Zero_and_Scorpion_from_Mortal_Kombat_(4837248410).jpg
 * 24 years after the embarrassing Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, the ultraviolent fighting games will have another go at the big screen, which just had its trailer released.
 * }
 * 25
 * Mortal Kombat (2021 film)
 * 412,636
 * Anime_Expo_2010_-_LA_-_Sub-Zero_and_Scorpion_from_Mortal_Kombat_(4837248410).jpg
 * 24 years after the embarrassing Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, the ultraviolent fighting games will have another go at the big screen, which just had its trailer released.
 * }
 * 24 years after the embarrassing Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, the ultraviolent fighting games will have another go at the big screen, which just had its trailer released.
 * }



Exclusions

 * 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 exclude articles that have almost no mobile views (5–6% or less) or almost all mobile views (94–95% 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.