It’s Star Wars Day: May the 4th be with you

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) with Stormtroopers Ph: David James ©Lucasfilm 2015

It’s not a national holiday, yet it might be an intergalactic one.

May the Fourth, as in “May the Fourth Be With You” has become a day to celebrate all things Star Wars, especially following last year’s revival of the series with “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.”

One the stars of the current Star Wars trilogy, Daisy Ridley, appeared in a YouTube video surrounded by some of the series’ characters to deliver well wishes from the cast of “Star Wars: Episode VIII,” which is set for release next year.

Like many Star Wars characters, “May the Fourth” comes with an interesting origin story. One of the earliest known references to the day followed the May 4, 1979, election of Margaret Thatcher as Britain’s prime minister, according to a post on the official Star Wars website. Thatcher’s party took out an ad in the London Evening News with the message, “May the Fourth Be With You, Maggie. Congratulations,” the website said, adding that the day took off once the Internet began connecting fans.

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The day has been a trending topic on social media. Comedy Central’s “@midnight” got things started by launching a #StarWarsSongs hashtag, asking fans to come up with Star Wars themed song titles. Some of the responses include “Whiskey in the Jar Jar” and “When You Wish Upon a Death Star.”

NASA got in on the fun with a blog comparing real planets to the ones depicted in Star Wars, including Saturn’s moon, Mimas, which has become known as the “Death Star” moon thanks to its distinctive crater.

Retailers are trying to turn fan enthusiasm into a profit. Many, including Wal-Mart, Target and Toys ‘R’ Us are offering promotions on Star Wars related items this week.

Happy ‘Star Wars’ Day! Watch this amazing ‘Hamilton’ parody about a galaxy far, far away.

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The Washington Post · Andrea Peterson

May the fourth be with you! That’s right, it’s “Star Wars” Day again – the holiday where fans dust off their best Yoda impressions and geek out about a galaxy far, far away. And just in time to celebrate, a new video marries the magic of the Force with the music of sold-out Broadway sensation “Hamilton.”

“Luke the Son of Anakin,” whose lyrics were written by comedian Nick Jack Pappas, tells the Skywalker saga to a tune from the smash musical about the ten-dollar founding father. It parodies the show’s opening number with a spoiler-heavy summary of Luke’s journey from space farm boy to Jedi knight and finally to lost recluse in the latest installment of the series.

But even before this video, “Hamilton” creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda was part of the “Star Wars” universe: He worked with J.J. Abrams on a new cantina song for “The Force Awakens.” (News of that collaboration even had fans of both pop culture sensations sharing lyrics from Hamilton that could apply to the space opera on Twitter with the hashtag #Force4Ham.)

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And the force is clearly strong with “Hamilton,” which made Broadway history on Tuesday when it received a record 16 Tony nominations – including three just for Miranda.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtkKf9o_jnc