Mario Day
We celebrate Mario Day on March 10th each year, because March 10th, written as “Mar10”, looks like Mario’s name. Mario[e] is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the video game franchise of the same name and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. The friendly mustache Mario character was initially released by Nintendo in 1985 — doesn’t that make you feel old? It sure as the hell makes me feel old. I was fifteen-years-old. I’m now fifty-two.
Landline Telephone Day
National Landline Telephone Day. Alexander Graham Bell is credited with inventing the telephone. The first successful demonstration of the telephone took place on March 10, 1876, when Bell spoke to his assistant, Thomas Watson, saying, “Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you.” Landline telephones, also known as fixed-line or home phones, are telephones that use a physical wire or cable to connect to a network and transmit voice signals. Unlike mobile phones, which operate wirelessly using radio waves, landline phones are connected to a telephone line that is typically provided by a telecommunications company.
Here are some notable events that happened on March 10th throughout history:
Historical Events
241 BCE – Battle of the Aegates Islands: The Romans defeated the Carthaginians, ending the First Punic War and establishing Rome as a dominant Mediterranean power.
1876 – First successful telephone call: Alexander Graham Bell made the first successful phone call to his assistant, Thomas Watson, famously saying:
“Mr. Watson—come here—I want to see you.”
1959 – Tibetan uprising: A major Tibetan revolt erupted in Lhasa against Chinese occupation, eventually leading the 14th Dalai Lama to flee to India.
1969 – James Earl Ray pleads guilty: Ray, the assassin of Martin Luther King Jr., pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 99 years in prison.
1977 – Rings of Uranus discovered: Astronomers accidentally discovered Uranus’s rings during an occultation experiment while observing a distant star.
Notable Birthdays
1903 – Clare Boothe Luce: American author, politician, and diplomat.
1940 – Chuck Norris: American martial artist, actor, and pop culture legend.
1957 – Osama bin Laden: Saudi-born founder of al-Qaeda (died 2011).
1958 – Sharon Stone: American actress and producer.
Notable Deaths
1906 – Susan B. Anthony (b. 1820)
American social reformer and women’s rights activist. A key figure in the suffrage movement in the U.S., her efforts helped pave the way for the 19th Amendment granting women the right to vote.
1940 – Mikhail Bulgakov (b. 1891)
Russian writer and playwright best known for The Master and Margarita, a novel that blended fantasy, satire, and political critique during the Stalinist era.
1948 – Jan Masaryk (b. 1886)
Czech diplomat and politician, son of Czechoslovakia’s founding father Tomáš Masaryk. He was found dead under suspicious circumstances—either suicide or assassination—during the Communist takeover of Czechoslovakia.
1957 – Richard E. Byrd (b. 1888)
American naval officer and explorer, best known for his expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctica. Claimed to be the first to fly over the North Pole.
1985 – Konstantin Chernenko (b. 1911)
Soviet politician and briefly the leader of the USSR. His death marked the end of the old guard and led to Mikhail Gorbachev’s rise to power.
2010 – Corey Haim (b. 1971)
Canadian actor and 1980s teen heartthrob, known for films like The Lost Boys. He died from complications related to pneumonia at the age of 38.
