Like millions of other Star Wars fans, May 4th is a day that has special meaning (and to some almost on the same level as Christmas!).

May the 4th (which sounds like “May the Force…”)  got it’s first huge boost in 1979 when the London evening news used the slogan to congratulate Margaret Thatcher on becoming Britain’s  first woman Prime Minister — “May the Fourth Be With You, Maggie. Congratulations”

In the 80’s and 90’s the day was celebrated by patches of hardcore fans through small gatherings and conventions. These eventually evolved into “Celebration” events- sanctioned gatherings like this

With the Internet, the Celebration gained even more momentum. I remember surfing the web and finding tons of sites on Angelfire  and Geocities (the free webservers!) like this

File sharing sites like Napster, Kazaa and eventually boards like Reddit became fertile grounds for the Nerds of the 4th- birthing memes of intergalactic proportions.

and who can forget…

With the help of social media, May the 4th gone really mainstream.  Check out #starwarsday on your twitter feed for proof!  I know my FB feed is all about the Force!

To my family, it’s a day to take advantage of Star Wars merch on sale, and unapologetically cosplay for the kids. As proud Star Wars geeks it’s a great time to capture the wonder of the mythos through pictures

Lilith @ 6

Lucas @2

Star Wars has had such a huge cultural impact to a large part of the world. To my family it is an epic story- with epic values to teach and unforgettable characters that have served as a springboard to our imaginations for years.

So whether you are a space faring traveler (yes NASA even celebrates the day!) or just normal geeks like us, from our geekiest of hearts, May the 4th be with you!