The phrase dates back to at least 1979, on the day Margaret Thatcher was elected the first female Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Her party took out a newspaper ad in the London Evening News that said “May the Fourth be with you, Maggie. Congratulations.”

On May 2nd, 2019, the state of California’s legislature voted and officially declared May 4th as “Star Wars Day” in recognition of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge opening later in the month of May.