Saturday, 10 March is National Mario Day
Mario, the Italian plumber, first appeared in Donkey Kong in 1981.
![](https://images.caxton.co.za/wp-content/uploads/sites/39/2018/03/March-10-National-Mario-Day.jpg)
National Mario Day is observed each year on 10 March and honors Mario from the popular Nintendo game.
The gamer holiday is celebrated on this day because of the way the date appears, when abbreviated (Mar.10). It looks just like the name Mario.
Mario, the Italian plumber, first appeared in Donkey Kong in 1981, and in 1983 Mario got his own game with his brother Luigi. Mario is known for being the most famous video game character ever created and more than 210 million copies of the game series have been sold.
How to observe
Get your friends together and have some fun playing video games and post on social media, using the hashtag #NationalMarioDay.
History
The day was started by video gamers and Mar. 10 was chosen because of how it appears. However, no names of the original creators of National Mario Day can be found.