December, in addition to hosting Christmas, is traditionally a time to look back at the months that preceded it. Today, courtesy of Wikipedia, we take a glance at 2024.
Those in my generation came to “knowledge at your fingertips” somewhat late in life. As students, even through college, our research was something done in a library. Today, like magic, one can find out almost anything about almost anything with a few keystrokes.
Incredibly, the English-language version of Wikipedia was called into use more than 76 billion times globally this year — and that accounting only represents clicks into October.
FILE – An Oct. 31, 2016 photo provided by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shows Erik Menendez, left, and a Feb. 22, 2018, photo provided by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation shows Lyle Menendez. (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation via AP, File)AP
It is, to me, an absolutely mind-boggling number, and one that Wikipedia uses to determine what people most wanted to know in 2024.
OK, let’s have a guess: English language users plus events of the year. Let’s start with the presidential election, then follow up with the Olympics.
Wrong.
The top category was “deaths in 2024,” a curiosity that inspired 44,440,344 page views from folks checking on departures that ranged from Chang Chih-chia, 43, a Taiwanese Olympic baseball player, to Gabriel Kney, 94, a Canadian pipe organ builder.
Interest in the presidential election begins with No. 2 Kamala Harris, who tallied just under 29 million clicks, followed by the presidential election at almost 28 million.
Now, it turns strange. In fourth place were Lyle and Erik Menendez, who murdered their parents in California in 1989. They prompted just over 26 million Wikipedia inquiries.
If you’re scratching your head, don’t. Netflix streamed the brothers’ story in nine episodes beginning in mid-September. That churned up enough curiosity to beat out Donald Trump (25 million) and JD Vance (23 million), who landed in fifth and seventh place.
Stepping between them was the Indian Premier League, No. 6 at 24.5 million. Without another visit to Wikipedia, I would not have known it was a cricket league.
Australia’s Rachael Gunn, known as B-Girl Raygun, competes during the Round Robin Battle at the breaking competition at La Concorde Urban Park at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 9, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin)AP
I’m no expert on — well — anything, but my guess is cricket is popular in India, which has an enormous population (1.4 billion). Most Indians speak English, one of the country’s official languages. To get the latest info, they use Wikipedia.
I’m guessing here, but I’m backing up my conjecture with the following: The No. 10 search was Indian general election (18 million), which beat out (Are you ready for this?) Taylor Swift, at 17 million.
You know what else beat out Taylor Swift? “Deadpool & Wolverine,” a superhero movie with 22 million peeks, and Project 2025, with 19.7 million.
Incidentally, the 2020 presidential election and the Olympics were No. 13 and 14 with 16 million queries apiece.
President Joe Biden came in at 19, just behind “Kalki 2898 AD,” a movie with ties to India and Netflix. (See a pattern there?) Each had about 14.5 million inquiries.
President-elect Donald Trump takes the stage before he speaks at the FOX Nation Patriot Awards, Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024, in Greenvale, N.Y. (AP Photo/Heather Khalifa)AP
In the great scheme of things, none of this probably proves anything, especially since the cutoff was October when the presidential election remained on the horizon.
With days to go before December ends, who knows where our searches will take us? Wherever that is, I hope you enjoy what’s left of this crazy year.
NANCY ESHELMAN: columnist1@verizon.net
