Happy Birthday, Neon Tommy! (Creative Commons)

Four years ago today, Neon Tommy published its first article: A fascinating commentary about guns, protein bars, beers and the federal debt.

In the four years since, close to a thousand of us have published more than 18,000 stories that together have been seen by 5.4 million unique visitors across more than 200 countries.

To put our growth in perspective, this year alone we could publish 7,000 articles and receive 4 million visits. By the end of this semester, we'll likely surpass 10 million pageviews and two-dozen award-winning articles. Our Twitter following has grown 21 percent since September and our FB following has grown 12 percent in that time. Plus, we doubled the number of L.A. Press Club Awards nominations we had compared to 2011. And we ended up winning 10 awards, just four less than the Los Angeles Times and two less than the L.A. Weekly.

NT is an experience unlike any other at the university-level. And we're glad you've been part of making this experiment a success.

A huge thank you to our readers, followers and fans. Our growth is all because of your support.

A look back at some of our biggest breakthroughs in reporting:

• Swine Flu Hits L.A. County
• 9/11: 10 Years Later
• Faces of L.A.'s Jobless
• Occupy L.A.
• L.A. Riots: 20 Years After The Unrest
• USC April 2012 Shootings
• L.A.'s 2012 Campaign Money: Where It All Goes
• 2012 Presidential Election Coverage

Show Neon Tommy some Happy Birthday love by liking us on Facebook or following us on Twitter!