May 4th marks Star Wars Day, a celebration of all things Star Wars. Did you know that the six live-action movies of the Star Wars saga debuted in May (starting with the original Star Wars on May 25, 1977)? The month of May also includes George Lucas’ birthday (May 14, 1944) and has been the traditional start date of the popular Star Wars Weekends at Walt Disney World Resort.

According to StarWars.com, one of the earliest known records of “May the 4th” used in popular culture was in 1979:

“Margaret Thatcher had won the election and become Britain’s first woman prime minister. To celebrate their victory her party took a half page of advertising space in the London Evening News. This message, referring to the day of victory, was ‘May the Fourth Be With You, Maggie. Congratulations,’ further proof of the extent to which Star Wars has influenced us all.” – Alan Arnold

 

Many sports pages on Facebook have already kicked off the festivities with a series of Star Wars-related sports photos. Check out some of the best below! For more Star Wars awesomeness, check out our previous Star Wars posts here.