Wikipedia’s 25 most popular entries of all time

It’s hard to imagine the internet without Wikipedia. But in the immediate years following its debut in 2001, many critics scoffed at the idea that a free, volunteer-run online encyclopedia could ever be considered a reputable source of information. If you were in high school or college during the early 2000s, you probably remember a teacher or two forbidding students from even using Wikipedia for their research projects.

January 15th marks the 25th anniversary of Wikipedia’s premiere, and the digital landscape around it is nearly unrecognizable. After two-and-a-half decades, the free encyclopedia encompasses over 7.1 million entries in English alone, most still written, edited, fact-checked, and maintained by tens of thousands of volunteers around the world. There are still plenty of issues with a website that runs under those parameters, but more often than not, a Wiki entry can serve as a starting point towards finding other helpful sources.

But what are most Wikipedia visitors interested in learning about? The website’s parent organization, the Wikimedia Foundation, provided Popular Science with a list of the top 25 most searched Wikipedia subjects of all time. While the Wikimedia Foundation says its data only goes back to 2008, it’s safe to say these remain the highest trafficked topics across the millions of entries.

As it turns out, a lot of people wonder who died recently. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the list is mostly a mix of politics, pop culture, sports, and history—but it’s still more than enough to get you up to speed for your next trivia night. 

As AI slop continues to flood search engines and generative media blurs the lines between reality and fiction, human-centric endeavors like Wikipedia are becoming increasingly critical for staying informed on everything from biomedical research and historical events, to…the Fraternal Order of Real Bearded Santas.

Wikipedia still faces its fair share of critics, some with very valid issues. Instead of a lack of sources, certain detractors are now claiming (without much evidence) that the encyclopedia is filled with supposed political biases. But as Wikipedia has shown so far, it’s probably up to the task of proving the naysayers wrong. There’s even a well-sourced entry about it.

 

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