Wikipedia:2011 Top 50 Report
Annual Top 50
[edit]Based on the Zeitgeist data and prepared with commentary by:
Commentary
Rank Article Class Image About 1 Facebook 
image commentary 2 Deaths in 2011 
image commentary 3 Steve Jobs 
The co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple died this year. 4 YouTube
The online video sharing platform is a consistently popular article, and as such frequently features on the Top 25 Report. 5 United States
image commentary 6 Lady Gaga
image commentary 7 Justin Bieber
image commentary 8 Glee (TV series)
image commentary 9 How I Met Your Mother
image commentary 10 Adele
image commentary 11 Eminem
image commentary 12 The Big Bang Theory
image commentary 13 Osama bin Laden
The killing of the mastermind of #41 was met with mass celebration in the United States and across the world. Bin Laden was killed at his compound (pictured) in Pakistan. 14 Mark Zuckerberg
image commentary 15 Amy Winehouse
image commentary 16 Selena Gomez
image commentary 17 Muammar Gaddafi
image commentary 18 Kim Kardashian
image commentary 19 Transformers: Dark of the Moon
image commentary 20 United Kingdom
image commentary 21 List of Glee episodes
image commentary 22 Charlie Sheen
image commentary 23 Elizabeth II
Her Majesty attended the wedding of her grandson (#49) this year. Next year will mark her Diamond Jubilee. 24 Game of Thrones
image commentary 25 Adolf Hitler
image commentary 26 World War II
image commentary 27 Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge
She married Prince William, Duke of Cambridge (#49) this year. Their engagement on 20 October 2010 was announced on 16 November 2010. The build-up to the wedding and the occasion itself attracted much media attention, being compared in many ways with the marriage of William's parents in 1981. The occasion was a public holiday in the United Kingdom and featured many ceremonial aspects, including use of the state carriages and roles for the Foot Guards and Household Cavalry. Events were held around the Commonwealth to mark the wedding; organisations and hotels held events across Canada, over 5,000 street parties were held throughout the United Kingdom, and one million people lined the route between Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace. The ceremony was viewed live by tens of millions more around the world, including 72 million live streams on YouTube. In the United Kingdom, television audiences peaked at 26.3 million viewers, with a total of 36.7 million watching part of the coverage.
28 Nicki Minaj
image commentary 29 India
image commentary 30 Harry Potter
image commentary 31 Lil Wayne
image commentary 32 Jersey Shore (TV series)
image commentary 33 Rihanna
image commentary 34 World War I
image commentary 35 X-Men: First Class
image commentary 36 China
image commentary 37 Emoticon
image commentary 38 Barack Obama
A major event for Obama this year was the killing of Osama bin Laden (#13), which Obama masterminded the operation of. He appeared on major television networks to announce the news, opening with the following statement: "Good evening. Tonight, I can report to the American people and to the world that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, and a terrorist who was responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women, and children." In his address to the nation, Obama recalled the victims of the September 11 attacks. He praised the nearly ten-year-old war against al-Qaeda, which he said had disrupted terrorist plots, strengthened homeland defenses, removed the Taliban government, and captured or killed scores of al-Qaeda operatives. Obama said that when he took office he made finding bin Laden the top priority of the war. Bin Laden's death was the most significant blow to al-Qaeda so far but the war would continue. He reaffirmed that the U.S. was not at war against Islam and defended his decision to conduct an operation within Pakistan. He said Americans understood the cost of war but would not stand by while their security was threatened.
"To those families who have lost loved ones to al-Qaeda's terror," he said, "justice has been done." This remark book-ended President Bush's statement to a joint session of Congress following the September 11 attacks that "justice will be done."
39 Two and a Half Men
image commentary 40 2011 in film
image commentary 41 September 11 attacks
This year marked the 10th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, which coincided with the killing of the mastermind of the attacks (#13) 4 months earlier. 42 Michael Jackson
The views for the late King of Pop this year are most likely as a result of the criminal trial of his personal physician, Conrad Murray, who was charged with involuntary manslaughter for the pop singer's death on June 25, 2009, from a dose of the general anesthetic propofol. The trial, which started on September 27, 2011, was held in the Los Angeles County Superior Court in Los Angeles, California, before Judge Michael Pastor as a televised proceeding, reaching a guilty verdict on November 7, 2011. 43 Mila Kunis
image commentary 44 Katy Perry
image commentary 45 List of How I Met Your Mother episodes
image commentary 46 Death of Caylee Anthony
image commentary 47 Dr. Dre
image commentary 48 The Dark Knight Rises
image commentary 49 Prince William, Duke of Cambridge
He married Catherine, Duchess of Cambridge (#27) this year. Their engagement on 20 October 2010 was announced on 16 November 2010. The build-up to the wedding and the occasion itself attracted much media attention, being compared in many ways with the marriage of William's parents in 1981. The occasion was a public holiday in the United Kingdom and featured many ceremonial aspects, including use of the state carriages and roles for the Foot Guards and Household Cavalry. Events were held around the Commonwealth to mark the wedding; organisations and hotels held events across Canada, over 5,000 street parties were held throughout the United Kingdom, and one million people lined the route between Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace. The ceremony was viewed live by tens of millions more around the world, including 72 million live streams on YouTube. In the United Kingdom, television audiences peaked at 26.3 million viewers, with a total of 36.7 million watching part of the coverage.
50 Natalie Portman
image commentary
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