The Force is strong with the Hoosier State.

A not-so-long time ago, in a galaxy not so far, far away, someone realized saying the date, May the 4th, sounded a lot like, "May the force." Star Wars fans quickly latched on to the wordplay and Star Wars Day was born. While initially, it was only celebrated among hardcore fans of the franchise, the dawn of the internet and social media exposed the saying and the day to the general public, allowing it to latch its way into pop culture just like the bug Khan puts in Chekov's ear.

(That last line is a joke. I know that's from 'Star Trek.' Cool your hyperdrive.)

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According to Days of the Year, the first official Star Wars Day celebration took place on May 4th, 2001 at the Toronto Underground Cinema and featured a costume contest and a movie marathon. Since then, the day is celebrated around the world by millions of the franchise's fans.

Indiana 'Star Wars' Fans Rank in the Top 10 of Most Passionate in America

1. Star Wars (1977)
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A recent study by Mark Strotman at Bookies.com looked at data from Google Trends from 2020 to 2023 to determine which state had the most passionate Star Wars fans. The study looked at how many times residents from each state searched anything related to the franchise. After the numbers were crunched, Utah and Alaska were at numbers one and two, respectively. Why is unknown. Maybe if you live in Utah, you'd rather be living in a galaxy far, far away?

You don't have to scroll much further down the list to find Indiana. When all was said and done, we sit at number nine when it comes to our passion for the epic sci-fi franchise with an average score of 74.5. Being a Star Wars fan myself since I was a kid (I'm in my mid-40s now), I know I contributed to that number over the years, especially as the release dates for Episodes 7, 8, and 9, and the various TV series were set to premiere.

With more shows and movies planned in the Star Wars universe in the coming years, I have no doubt we Hoosiers will continue to keep ourselves near the top of this list.

May the Force be with you.

[Sources: Bookies.com / Days of the Year]

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