Star Wars: A Visual History
7. The Expanded Universe (1977-2014)
Although the Expanded Universe (the massive story of books, comics, video games and other material set in the Star Wars galaxy) first kicked off in the wake of Star Wars' release with a Marvel comic and the novel Splinter Of The Mind's Eye, it didn't become its own massive world until the early nineties.
Timothy Zahn's Thrawn Trilogy, which detailed the central cast's lives post-Jedi, re-ignited the fandom, bringing back many who'd grown up with the movies. And the series never looked back.
In April 2014 it was announced by Lucasfilm that this immense world (which beats Tolkien in scope hands down) was now rendered non-canon. Ouch.