© 2026 Kansas City Public Radio
NPR in Kansas City
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Paul Walker, Boston Bombing Among Top 2013 Google Searches

Actor Paul Walker in 2009.
Joel Ryan
/
AP

What did people search for in 2013? Google released its annual tally of the stories people around the world were most interested in.

In the U.S., Paul Walker, the Boston Marathon bombing and Nelson Mandela were the top trending searches. Globally, the death of the anti-apartheid leader came in first and the death of the Fast and Furious actor came in second. Via the Google Zeitgeist, here's the rest of the global top-10:

Here are the top searches in the United States:

If you're wondering, Google doesn't rank the previous two lists by sheer volume. Instead they represent "search topics with the largest increase in search volume since the previous period."

They do provide, a few measures based on volume. Here is, for example, the most searched people in the United States:

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.
Congress just eliminated federal funding for KCUR, but public radio is for the people.

Your support has always made KCUR's work possible — from reporting that keeps officials accountable, to storytelling to connects our community. Help ensure the future of local journalism.