A History Of 'Star Wars' Day: How 'May The 4th Be With You' Came To Be

Wednesday, May 4, is Star Wars Day, also known as “May the 4th Be With You.”

The annual event is held throughout the world where Star Wars fans unite to celebrate one of the most celebrated franchises of all times. From movies to television shows, to comic books, and more, there is no lack of content for Star Wars fans.

But how did Star Wars Day first get its start? The official Star Wars website did a deep dive into the history of the beloved holiday to see where the phrase “May the 4th Be With You” originated.

Even the Star Wars experts don’t exactly know where the phrase “May the 4th Be With You” came from. They call it a “grassroots phenomenon” that “now transcends the English language pun that inspired it.”

The first Star Wars film, “A New Hope,” hit theaters on May 25, 1977. The earliest use of “May the 4th Be With You” that can be found dates back to 1978, only one year after the movie was released. In the summer of 1978, newspaper writers would play off the phrase “May the Force be With You” in Independence Day celebrations held on the Fourth of July.

A year later, on May 4, 1979, Margaret Thatcher assumed office as Britain’s new prime minister. The London Evening News dedicated a full-page ad to the announcement, writing, “May the Fourth Be With You, Maggie. Congratulations!”

“The Empire Strikes Back” was filming in nearby Elstree Studios at the time, so issues of the newspaper likely appeared in Lucasfilm’s offices.

In 1982, Randy Thom, who is now the sound designer at Skywalker Sound, worked as a location sound recordist on “Revenge of the Jedi” (which later became “Return of the Jedi.”) At the time, it was in production under the codename Blue Harvest.

While working on May 4, 1982, he told others on set “May the 4th Be With You” and it is said to have spread from there.

However, the pun was still used mostly around Independence Day. In 2005, to market “Revenge of the Sith,” a newspaper ad featuring Yoda and colorful fireworks ran with the tagline “May the Fourth Be With You” to try to push audiences into movie theaters around the country.

Star Wars fans continued to use the pun widely and began to host their own unofficial celebrations on the day or used it as a time to host watch parties for the films. In 2012, creator George Lucas sold Lucasfilm to Disney, which began to take a more active approach to the unofficial holiday.

Disney began to sponsor events inside Disney stores and promoted Star Wars Day at sports games and select businesses. The dawn of social media, such as Twitter, also helped the hashtag #Maythe4thBeWithYou go viral and helped others identify events and new ways to celebrate the holiday.