“May fortune favor the foolish.” Kirk- Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, Stardate: 8390

After the retraining of Spock, the crew of the recently destroyed Enterprise make plans to return to Earth to face trial after disobeying orders. On their way back, they intercept a distress call from the Federation President. The planet Earth is being disrupted by an unknown probe.

Spock is able to determine that the probe is seeking humpback whales that once swam in Earth’s oceans. The only way that Kirk and company can find more whales is by traveling through the past. Using a slingshot around the Sun, the intrepid crew finds themselves in 1986. Will they find some whales in time to prevent the destruction of Earth?

“Assimilate this.” Worf, Star Trek: First Contact, Stardate: 50893.5

A fan favorite, Star Trek: First Contact, premiered on this date in 1996. The first movie to feature only the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation.

The new Sovereign Class USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-E is taken by the crew into the past in order to stop the Borg from preventing First Contact between Earth and the Vulcans.

“Well like you always say, if something’s important, you’ll make the time.” Scotty- Star Trek Generations, Stardate: 48650.1

The first Star Trek: The Next Generation movie premiered on this date in 1994. Titled: Star Trek Generations. The first part of the movie gave the fans a showing of Kirk, Scotty and Chekov inspecting the newly launched USS Enterprise, NCC-1701-B.

The second part of the movie had the cast of TNG taking on the El Aurian Dr. Tolian Soran, played by Malcolm McDowell, as he tries to find his way back into the Nexus.

“Lets see what’s out there, engage.” Picard- Encounter at Farpoint, Stardate: 41153.7

On this date Star Trek made it’s return to television as the pilot episode for Star Trek: The Next Generation premiered with “Encounter at Farpoint”. Even the name sounds mysterious.

Star Trek fans were introduced to Captain Jean Luc Picard, Commander William Riker, Dr. Beverly Crusher, Lt. Commander Data, Counselor Troi, Lt. (j.g.) Geordi LaForge, the Klingon Worf and more. The show ran for 176 episodes over seven seasons. It would later spawn four TNG movies.

“For nearly a century, we’ve waded ankle-deep in the ocean of space. Now it’s finally time to swim.” Forrest- Broken Bow, Date: Apr 15, 2151

The second Star Trek series to air on the United Paramount Network (UPN) was Star Trek Enterprise. It premiered on this date in 2001 with the pilot episode “Broken Bow”. The series had 97 episodes over four seasons.

Set before The Original Series, Enterprise explored the challenges of Earth, Vulcan, Andor and Tellar as they struggled to find common ground and the eventual founding of the United Federation of Planets.

“We come in peace, that’s why we’re here. Isn’t that the whole idea of Starfleet?” Burnham- The Vulcan Hello, Stardate: 1207.3

Just as Star Trek: The Next Generation broke new ground for first-run syndication and Star Trek: Voyager helped launch a new television network, Star Trek Discovery moved our favorite franchise into the world of streaming. The pilot episode, “The Vulcan Hello”, premiered on this date in 2017. The first episode was shown on CBS with the remaining episodes shown on CBS All Access. The series is still in production with the third season coming soon.

“May the Great Bird of the Galaxy bless your planet.” Sulu- The Man Trap, Stardate: 1513.1

On this date in 1966, the television world was changed forever. Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek was first aired on NBC. The first episode aired was “The Man Trap”. The pilot “Where No Man Has Gone Before” didn’t air until the third week of the show. (September 22nd)

Several years later in 1973 the Animated Star Trek premiered, also on the NBC network. The first episode was “Beyond the Farthest Star”. The Animated Series would later go on to win a Daytime Emmy Award.