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Summary: We skipped a week a few weeks ago (I was on holiday and there are only two of us working on this), which resulted in a slight miscount of the dates. Anyway, Cinco de Mayo happens this week. Other than that, the main theme of the week appears to be true crime; a confluence of events around the world sparked people's interest in old crime cases.
For the week of May 5 to May 11, the 25 most popular articles on Wikipedia, as determined from the report of the 5,000 most trafficked pages* were:
| Rank | Last | Wks | Article | Views | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | – | – | Saul Bass | 2,043,324 | The great title sequence designer, who created the classic openings to Hitchcock's most notable films, including Vertigo and Psycho, shot to the top this week thanks to an eye-catching animated Google Doodle to celebrate his 93rd birthday on May 8. |
| 2 | – | – | Mother's Day | 1,029,141 |  |
| 3 | 8 | 3 | The Great Gatsby | 1,026,138 |  |
| 4 | - | - | Killing of Travis Alexander | 789,363 | Interest in this case spiked on May 8 as the suspect in the above killing, Jodi Arias, was found guilty of his murder. This trial had become something of a media circus, as millions tuned in to a real life soap opera. All this despite the fact that she had admitted the crime in open court and on live television. |
| 5 | 12 | 2 | Cinco de Mayo | 757,792 |  |
| 6 | 3 | 3 | Iron Man 3 | 746,539 | As expected, this mega-blockbuster, expected to join its predecessor in the $1 billion-earners club, had a jump in views after its US debut on May 3 |
| 7 | - | - | Mike Jeffries (CEO) | 619,454 | The CEO of the clothing chain Abercrombie & Fitch has caused a stir by saying that he doesn't want overweight people in his stores. I'd like to make a bet that sales at Abercrombie & Fitch will now increase. |
| 8 | 5 | 3 | Aashiqui 2 | 542,622 | The popularity of this Bollywood blockbuster is a window on the substantial Indian presence on the English Wikipedia. There are, after all, more than twice as many English speakers in India than there are in England. |
| 9 | - | - | Alex Ferguson | 539,531 |  |
| 10 | 7 | 10 | Game of Thrones | 538,651 | This epic fantasy TV series launched its third season on March 31, and has seen its ratings almost double on its premiere episode. |
| 11 | 9 | 18 | 473,125 | A perennially popular article. | |
| 12 | - | - | David Moyes | 451,494 |  |
| 13 | - | - | The Great Gatsby (2013 film) | 410,798 | Baz Luhrmann's 3D, hip-hop-infused, orgiastic take on the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel (see above) is the most popular new movie of the week, opening at $51.1 million. |
| 14 | 13 | 28 | Deaths in 2013 | 396,061 | The lists of deaths in the current year is always a quite popular article. |
| 15 | 15 | 30 | YouTube | 390,140 | Another perennially popular article |
| 16 | 16 | 4 | Game of Thrones (season 3) | 387,374 | see #10 above |
| 17 | 17 | 30 | World War II | 385,084 |  |
| 18 | 19 | 4 | List of Game of Thrones episodes | 372,529 | see #10 above |
| 19 | - | - | Manya Surve | 366,426 |  |
| 20 | 18 | 4 | Arrow (TV series) | 357,687 | This currently popular Green Arrow TV series is nearing the end of its first season. |
| 21 | 20 | 19 | 323,870 | A perennially popular article. | |
| 22 | - | - | Kidnapping of Jaycee Lee Dugard | 321,190 | The woman who was kidnapped and held captive for 18 years became a subject of interest following the similar case of the 2013 Cleveland, Ohio, missing trio, who were found after on May 6 after having been missing for 10 years. Ironically, the article on the Cleveland kidnappings themselves didn't do as well as expected due to the page having been moved quite a few times. |
| 23 | 22 | 2 | Robert Downey, Jr. | 311,860 |  |
| 24 | - | - | Shootout at Wadala | 307,657 | Bollywood film about the controversial death of Manya Surve (see above). |
| 25 | - | - | United States | 300,022 |  |
Specific removals this week (those articles for which no reason for any sudden popularity could be located):
