2011 Top 50 Report

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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