Why is Star Wars Day celebrated today?

The celebration of Star Wars Day on May 4 doesn’t have one official start datebut yes a point of origin.

The truth is that the election of this day to pay tribute to the saga resides in an english pun: “May the 4th Be With You”, according to the official star wars website. Thus, the first uses of the phrase, of which the cited source is aware, date from 1978: One year after the release of Star Wars A New Hope.

That summer of ’78newspaper writers used the phrase to commemorate celebrations of the Independence Day of the fourth of July. “May the Force be with you”—as heard in A New Hope—she occupied billboards and articles for months.

What is the origin of Star Wars Day

Thus, the English-speaking public in the United Kingdom became familiar with the expression. A year later, the May 4, 1979a publication of the British newspaper ‘London Evening’ definitely set the date for the celebration.

The new British Prime Minister Margaret ThatcherHe took office that day. For this reason, on that occasion the following message could be read in a full-page advertisement: “May the 4th Be With You, Maggie” (“May the force be with you” in Spanish). At the time, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back it was in production at nearby Elstree Studios. In other words, the numbers of the Evening News could have appeared in the offices of Lucasfilm, according to the official website.

However, there is another possible origin of this celebration related to the production of ‘Revenge of the Jedi’. The culprit for the choice of this date could be Randy Thomasdirector of sound design at Skywalker Sound (belonging to The Walt Disney Company). As the official portal explains, Thom remembered the play on words on his account when contemplating the date: May 4, 1982. He shared it with other filming partners, thus declaring “May the 4th Be With You”.