Some shared images of their elderly relatives while wishing him. Joanna shared an image of her 101-year-old grandmother and wrote, “Happy birthday Gerald! My nan, Bridget, shares a birthday with your dad and she’ll be 101 this year! Hats off and many, many happy returns to these two very special centenarians and all the others on here!” Another person shared an image of their baby granddaughter and wrote, “Cheers Gerald! My birthday is also July 12th, a toast to us! My new granddaughter thinks the secret to long life is being extra cute but I think you already know that by looking at your pic!”

“Star Wars” legend Mark Hamill, who played Luke Skywalker in the series, wrote “For Gerald” and shared an emoji of a cake. Even Stephen Fry, the English actor and comedian, got in on the act, writing, “Happy birthday Gerald! xx” Another person shared a picture with his grandmother and her sister while wishing Gerald. “Can we get 105 likes for my 105-year-old grandma Mary on the left and 104 likes for her 104-year-old sister Tina in the middle? This is from my visit today with them where they each both live in their own houses on their own.”

The simple tweet turned into a campaign and even made it to the radio. “Happy Birthday Gerald from 94.5 KHI in Ocean City, MD,” read a tweet, before linking a video of the host talking about it on the radio. Sharon Steed shared an image of her late dad sitting on the sofa next to an adorable dog. “Happy birthday, Gerald!! My dad made it to 86 (this is him before he passed this past with my dog, Washington); he probably would have talked your ear off and eaten all the cake with you today!”