The list is topped this week by Danish scientist Inge Lehmann, thanks to a Google Doodle celebrating her 127th birthday. Lehmann discovered in 1936 that the Earth has a solid inner core. It is sometimes surprising to realize how recently such basic scientific knowledge of the Earth, which we now take for granted, was discovered.
In a generally slow week for news and entertainment, it only took 464,540 views to crack the Top 10 this week, the lowest total of the year by a wide margin – for example, last week it took over 720,000 views to make that mark. This lull led articles with fairly consistent weekly views to rise high, including Deaths in 2015 at #9, and the ever-popular Facebook at #10. The main page had over 208 million views, however, which is higher than we've recently seen. Reader interests were simply more varied this week.
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.
For the week of May 10 to 16, 2015, the ten most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the most viewed pages, were:
| Rank | Article | Class | Views | Image | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Inge Lehmann | 
|
1,922,118 | Lehmann (1888–1993) was a Danish seismologist and geophysicist who discovered in 1936 that the Earth has a solid inner core inside a molten outer core. On the 127th anniversary of her birth on May 13, Google honored her with a worldwide Google Doodle. | |
| 2 | Mad Max: Fury Road |
|
1,123,916 |  |
This action film starring Tom Hardy (pictured) in the title role debuted on Australia on May 14 and in the United States the next day. Despite very good reviews it was defeated at the box office in North America by Pitch Perfect 2 (#14), though it was the top release in many other countries. As of May 17, its worldwide box office reached $109.4 million on a budget of $150 million. |
| 3 | Avengers: Age of Ultron | 
|
1,105,364 |  |
The latest installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe premièred in Hollywood on April 13, and went on wide release on May 1. |
| 4 | Mother's Day |
|
945,291 |  |
The second Sunday in May (that's May 10 to all you ingrates who forgot) is far and away the most popular time of year to celebrate Mother's Day, and, even as the day fell, panicked college students in all participating countries rushed to their computers to learn they'd blown it. And then sent e-cards, perhaps. |
| 5 | B.B. King | 
|
875,051 |  |
This legendary American blues singer and guitarist put down his Lucille for the last time, dying in Las Vegas on May 14 at the age of 89. |
| 6 | Mad Max |
|
661,735 |  |
The 1979 film starring Mel Gibson (pictured) that started the Mad Max franchise, albeit one that had not released a film since 1985 until now. |
| 7 | Game of Thrones (season 5) |
|
649,169 |  |
Episode 5 for this season ("Kill the Boy") debuted on May 10. |
| 8 | The Flash (2014 TV series) |
|
569,089 |  |
This spinoff from the hit series Arrow marks DC Comics' second attempt to create a TV universe, after the late and much lamented DC Animated Universe. |
| 9 | Deaths in 2015 | 
|
516,509 |  |
A slow traffic week means that the 516,509 views this article had this week, within the remarkably constant total between 450 and 550,000 seen every week, places it in the top 10. Deaths this week included Indian historian Ninad Bedekar, pictured at left (May 10), Belgian author Jef Geeraerts (May 11), Australian serial killer William McDonald (May 12), Russian middle-distance runner Nina Otkalenko (May 13), American Astrophysicist Stanton J. Peale (May 14), Uruguayan writer Carlos Maggi (May 15), and American BASE jumper Dean Potter (May 16), who died during a wingsuit jump. If you want to make it into the deaths list on Wikipedia, I hate to say it, but BASE jumping will raise your chances immeasurably. |
| 10 |
|
464,540 | .JPG) |
A perennially popular article, also in the Top 10 in a slow traffic week. |
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