---
title: "Which came first, Amazon or Star Wars?"
description: "Amazon vs Star Wars: Star Wars came first, by 17 years — 1977 against 1994. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/amazon-vs-star-wars/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, Amazon or Star Wars?

**Which came first, Amazon or Star Wars?: Star Wars**

1977 — 17 years before Amazon

Star Wars came first, by 17 years. The first film opened in 32 American cinemas.

## Side by side

|  | Amazon | Star Wars |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 1994 | 1977 |
| Date | 1994-07-05 | 1977-05-25 |
| Category | technology | media |
| What happened | Jeff Bezos incorporated the company in Washington state. | The first film opened in 32 American cinemas. |

## Amazon

Amazon was incorporated on 5 July 1994, originally as Cadabra, and the website opened in July 1995 selling only books. The 1994 incorporation date is used here because it is the company's own founding date; if you mean the shop, 1995 is the answer. Either way it predates Google by three or four years and eBay by about a year.

## Star Wars

Star Wars opened in May 1977 on fewer than forty screens because the distributor had little faith in it, and it went on to be the highest-grossing film made to that point. Fox let Lucas keep the merchandising and sequel rights in exchange for a lower directing fee, a decision that transferred an extraordinary amount of money. It is eleven years younger than Star Trek.

## Common questions

### Which came first, Amazon or Star Wars?

Star Wars, by 17 years — 1977 against 1994.

### When did Amazon start?

1994. Jeff Bezos incorporated the company in Washington state.

### When did Star Wars start?

1977. The first film opened in 32 American cinemas.

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## Sources

- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]