Monthly Archives: March 2024

History

On this day March 12

Today in History

  • 1967 Suharto rises to power in Indonesia

    His presidency, which lasted 31 years, was overshadowed by crass human rights violations and the occupation of East Timor.

  • 1947 The Truman doctrine is proclaimed

    In his speech before Congress, U.S. President Harry S. Truman defined his foreign relations priorities, which included military and economic support to Turkey and Greece to prevent the spread of communism there.

  • 1938 Hitler invades Austria

    The occupation of Hitler’s homeland is known as Anschluss, which is the German word for annexation.

  • 1930 Mahatma Gandhi embarks on his Salt March

    The 240-mile march was an act of civil disobedience to protest the British monopoly on salt. It was one of the most significant events during the Indian independence movement.

  • 1918 Moscow becomes Russia’s capital city

    St. Petersburg lost its status as the Russian capital following the Revolution of 1917, which dismantled the Tsarist autocracy.

History

On This Day – March 11

On This Day – March 11

  • 2011 The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster strikes Japan

    The nuclear meltdowns occurred after a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunami. It was the worst nuclear accident since the 1986 Chernobyl disaster.

  • 2004 191 people die as several bombs explode on Madrid commuter trains

    The bombings were conducted by an Islamist terrorist cell and came 3 days before Spain’s general elections.

  • 1990 Lithuania becomes the first Soviet republic to declare its independence

    The Baltic country’s secession marked an important step in the dissolution of the Soviet Union.

  • 1990 Patricio Aylwin becomes Chile’s first democratically elected president since the end of Augusto Pinochet’s dictatorship

    Pinochet had been in power since a CIA-backed coup d’état in 1973. Under his command, thousands of political opponents were interned, tortured, and killed.

  • 1851 Giuseppe Verdi’s opera, Rigoletto, receives its premiere

    Rigoletto is one of the most popular operas of all time. The piece was premiered at the Teatro La Fenice in Venice, Italy.

Fun Holidays, Sunday Stuff

Mario Day

Mario Day

March 10 is Mario Day, a day to celebrate the main character of the popular Nintendo video game franchise, Super Mario.

A Super Mario toy.

March 10 was chosen by fans of the game as the date for this holiday because March 10 when abbreviated and written without a space between the month and date – Mar10 – looks like the word Mario.

Fictional Italian Plumber

The Super Mario video games follows the adventures of Italian plumber Mario and his brother Luigi while they try to rescue Princess Peach from the evil Bowser. Princess Peach is the princess of the fictional Mushroom Kingdom in which the game is set.

Best-Selling Game

Considered to be the best-selling video game of all time and one of the most recognizable video game characters in the world, Mario was created by Shigeru Miyamoto. Since his first appearance in the 1981 Nintendo game, Donkey Kong as Jumpman, Mario has featured in over 200 video games, and several television shows and comics.

 

FYI…

…that when Mario made his first gaming appearance as Jumpman, he was not a plumber but a carpenter?

Breaking News

Scam targeting Saint John photographers

 

Saint John police are warning about an overpayment scam after a local photographer fell victim.

Police said the photographer was contacted by the fraudster via email in early February.

The scammer, who claimed to live out of province, wanted to book the woman’s services for an upcoming birthday party in Saint John.

“The fraudster sent a cheque for considerably more than the cost of the photography services asking the victim to send the remaining funds to the fraudster’s son who was paying for other arrangements for the birthday party,” said a news release from police.

Investigators said the victim deposited the cheque into her account and e-transferred the remaining funds to the email address provided for the fraudster’s son.

But the cheque was later returned by the bank and the victim’s account was debited the full amount, leaving her responsible for several thousands of dollars.

“It is alleged that attempts have been made to defraud other local photographers as well,” said police.

Police said this type of scam is commonly known as an overpayment scam, where someone pays more for a service or product and asks the victim to wire the balance before the cheque bounces.