Why is April 5th the Most Important Date in Star Trek?

Star Trek is a science-fiction touchstone that has resonated with fans for generations. It shows an optimistic view of humanity’s future and perfectly encapsulates our fascination with what lies beyond our planet, born right out of the space race of the 1960s. Part of this fascination is the yearning to know the answer to a simple question: are we alone in the universe?

Within the mythology of Star Trek, April 5th is a massively important date because it commemorates the day we discovered the answer to this question. It marks the day we officially encountered life beyond the stars, and made first contact for the first time.

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The Next Generation era of the Star Trek franchise was incredibly richly written. This period established a lot of the lore and canon of the franchise. Amazingly, it wasn’t until the 1996 movie Star Trek: First Contact that the notion of this pivotal point in human history was explored. The time-traveling adventure sees the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise attempt to prevent the Borg from altering Earth’s history by assimilating the planet in the past. They also work to help Star Trek historical figure Zefram Cochrane carry out his famed warp flight and become the first human being to travel faster than the speed of light, securing the future of humanity.

The crew are successful (spoilers, sorry — but of course they were), and Cochrane breaks the warp barrier the morning of April 5th, 2063. His historic flight catches the attention of some extra-terrestrial observers.

Meeting Star Trek’s Oldest Aliens

At 11 o’clock the morning of April 5th, unbeknownst to humanity, an alien scout ship is passing through the solar system. They have no interest in our little blue rock at first, as it is too primitive by their standards. This changes when they spy a ship launched from the planet traveling faster than light. They decide to change course and check this species out.

An alien spacecraft touches down in central Montana (the site where Cochrane developed the Phoenix, his warp ship) later that evening, and Cochrane himself has the honor of being the first human to officially make first contact with an alien race. That race just happens to be the quintessential Star Trek aliens: the logic-driven Vulcans.

It Had to be the Vulcans

Establishing such a significant relationship between the human race and the Vulcans was narrative perfection. Vulcans were the first alien race viewers saw when Star Trek first hit screens back in 1966, and audiences met Leonard Nimoy’s iconic Mr. Spock for the first time. Establishing this special relationship between humanity and Vulcans in many ways enriches and elevates what is already one of the most important and recognizable Star Trek characters. It also adds an extra dimension to Spock’s half-human, half-Vulcan lineage.

This is just one example of many where writers during this golden age of Star Trek added to the mythology of the franchise, building on what had come before to create a realized, living, breathing universe. In fact, it’s just one example from this movie alone.

The idea for Zefram Cochrane to be the man to usher in a new era for humanity also weaves another layer into the rich tapestry of Star Trek. Cochrane was first introduced in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode “Metamorphosis,” where he was established as the human inventor of warp drive. This was pretty much all there was to him until he was fleshed out into a more complex character in First Contact, thanks to both the writing of screenwriters Brannon Braga and Ronald D. Moore, and a terrific performance from James Cromwell.

Earth’s first contact with an alien species is a turning point in history. This is laid out succinctly in Star Trek: First Contact. At the time of Cochrane’s warp flight, Earth is roughly ten years removed from a devastating third world war. When humanity discovers they are not alone in the universe, the planet’s fractured society unites and grows. Poverty, disease, and war are all eliminated within half a century, and the foundations are laid for the optimistic vision of the future at the heart of Star Trek.

Cochrane’s first contact is directly responsible for the formation of Starfleet and humanity’s growth into a space-faring civilization. It’s also a cornerstone of Star Trek’s system of interplanetary government, the United Federation of Planets. These are all ideas that are explored in the series Star Trek: Enterprise, which built off the narrative of First Contact when establishing its world. James Cromwell even appears as Cochrane in the pilot episode, delivering a commencement address for the opening of the Warp Five Complex that will eventually give birth to the first starship to bear the name Enterprise.

The in-universe recognition of the importance of first contact has become an established part of Star Trek canon. Star Trek: Lower Decks shows that First Contact Day is a celebrated holiday, where Starfleet officers take part in quizzes and other festivities and even enjoy themed foods (Zefram Cochrane’s cheese pierogies, anyone?) in celebration of this first meeting with the Vulcans.

Celebrating Star Trek

Outside the canon of the franchise, First Contact Day has become a real-world celebration for Trekkies the world over. April 5th, the date chosen by screenwriter Ronald D. Moore because it is his eldest son’s birthday, has become a commemorative day on which fans celebrate all things Star Trek.

Every year, there are screenings, panels, virtual events, and more where fans unite over their shared love of Star Trek. Paramount, the franchise owners, have gotten behind this informal holiday by hosting a number of official Star Trek celebrations, and fans can probably expect to see #FirstContactDay trending all over social media.

Pieces of the vision of the future shown in Star Trek have come to pass, be it with the invention of cell phones, tablets, virtual reality, and more. Who’s to say that it hasn’t also predicted something else literally world-changing? Maybe we’re just a few short decades away from meeting life from another world and ushering in an era of peace and growth the likes of which we’ve never seen. We can but dream.

Star Trek

Created by

Gene Roddenberry

First Film

Star Trek: The Motion Picture