Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2015-08-05/Traffic report

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Traffic report

Mrityorma amritam gamaya...

If you were wondering, the title above is part of a mantra in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad; it translates to, "From death lead us to immortality." Perhaps a touch melodramatic, I'll admit, but it seemed appropriate to me this week, given the milestones this list crossed. Death is no stranger to this list, but it has never cast such a pall as this week, when for the first time half the slots in the top 10 were devoted to it, including the top 3. The other milestone is, of course, India, who for the first time claimed five slots in the top 10.

For the full top-25 list, see

WP:TOP25. See this section for an explanation of any exclusions. For a list of the most edited articles of the week, see here
.

As prepared by Serendipodous, for the week of July 26 to August 1, 2015, the 10 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the most viewed pages, were:

Rank Article Class Views Image Notes
1 A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Good Article 3,589,713
The surge of views this former scientist and reluctant politician received upon his death this week at the age of 83 is merely a reflection of the regard in which he was held by his fellow Indians. A
Hindu country, he rose to the very top of the political ladder, first as a developer of India's missile and nuclear programs, and then as President
. Despite adhering to Islam, he considered himself an Indian and drew much inspiration from his country's Hindu heritage. As a result, his one term as President was one of the most popular in his country's history. A lifelong advocate of technology, he believed that India could become a developed country through embracing and expanding its knowledge base.
2 Yakub Memon Start-class 1,098,805 The Muslim terrorist, believed to have played a role in the 1993 Bombay bombings that killed 257 people, was hanged this week amid speculation that he was paying for the crime of his still-at-large brother Tiger Memon. Many commentators contrasted his death with the outpouring of grief which greeted that of his fellow Muslim and national hero A. P. J. Abdul Kalam, and pondered what it augured for the future of India's society.
3 Roddy Piper C-class 1,086,945
Wikipedia viewers love their wrestlers, and so the death of "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, world-renowned
heel, at the relatively young age of 61, was bound to stir emotions. In the ring, "Hot Rod" played up his Scottish roots, affecting the rage of a Glaswegian football hooligan and entering to the sound of bagpipes, for which he was named (his real last name, incidentally, was Toombs, which you would think would be a perfectly acceptable wrestling name). While never a wrestling fan, I will always remember him as the working class hero of John Carpenter's political alien invasion allegory They Live
, in which he originated the now-legendary line, "I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass- and I'm all out of bubblegum!" OK, so it makes no sense, but it's still cool.
4 Bajrangi Bhaijaan Start-class 948,650
Eid weekend, made Rs 2 billion ($31.2 million) in its first nine days, and earned support from legends like Shekhar Kapur. In its first 15 days, the film has grossed more than Rs 4 billion ($62.5 million) worldwide. But Khan's tweets in apparent support of Yakub Memon
have led to posters for the film being defaced in some areas.
5 Bobbi Kristina Brown Start-Class 930,371
The eerie death of the daughter of the late Whitney Houston (found, like her mother, in a bathtub) has cast a pall of tragedy on a family already no stranger to it. Aged just 22, she had already become a focus of tabloid gossip and speculation.
6 List of highest-grossing Indian films List 725,049
With the barnstorming performances of Baahubali: The Beginning and Bajrangi Bhaijaan making national news in India, people are interested to know how they stack up against the recent crop of record breakers.

NOTE: includes views for its redirect page

List of highest-grossing Bollywood films

7 Baahubali: The Beginning C-class 747,036
At $41 million, this sprawling, two-part historical epic is the most expensive film in Indian history (no, it isn't actually
Bollywood, since it was made in South India, much to Bollywood's chagrin). Starring the Telugu actor Prabhas
(pictured), the first part, subtitled "The Beginning", broke box office records upon its release on July 10, earning Rs 2.15 billion ($34 million) worldwide in just 5 days and in just three weeks has already crossed the Rs 4.85 billion ($76 million) mark, showing remarkable stamina for an Indian blockbuster, most of which drop off by 80 percent at that point.
8 Ant-Man (film) C-class 515,092
Other than Guardians of the Galaxy, this was always going to be Marvel Studios's biggest gamble, and signs did not augur well after writer-director Edgar Wright abandoned the project when denied total creative control. And yet, while it is hardly the box-office miracle that Guardians was, it has proved a moderate domestic hit, at $132 million to date, though it is on course to become the lowest-grossing film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
9
Deaths in 2015
List 482,484
The viewing figures for this article have been remarkably constant; fluctuating week to week between 450 and 550 thousand, apparently heedless of who actually died.
10 Ronda Rousey B-class 482,298
The undefeated
UFC women's bantamweight champion beat Bethe Correia in 34 seconds during UFC 190 on August 1 in Correia's home town of Rio de Janeiro. Apparently Correia had been trash talking
Rousey prior to the fight, which strikes me as a rather odd thing to do to someone who a) has never lost a fight and b) won her last fight in 14 seconds.