Trekkies, especially fans of Star Trek: The Next Generation, celebrate June 16 as Captain Picard day. This has been going on since 2007 and actually comes from a real in-universe celebration, as depicted in TNG episode “The Pegasus” aired on January 10, 1994. The episode mentions Stardate 47457.1, which thanks to awesome Trekkie math powers, has been calculated to June 16, 2370 – and this has since been accepted as the official Captain Picard Day.

Captain Picard Day was celebrated annually aboard the USS Enterprise-D for the children aboard the ship, who would create paintings and models of the captain. Jean-Luc Picard was reluctant about the celebration, but Counselor Deanna Troi reminded him that it was “one of the children’s favorite school activities, they look forward to it all year.” Then, when asked why the celebration had to be about him, specifically, Troi responded that it was because he was the captain and that they saw him as a role model.

That said, despite seeming unhappiness about the event, we see that Captain Picard kept the banner from the “The Pegasus” episode‘s celebration later in 2020’s Picard episode, “Remembrance.” Clearly holding some form of sentimental value to him, it was kept in his vault at the Starfleet Museum Quantum Archives. 

So, here’s to you, Captain Picard… Happy Captain Picard Day to our role model!