---
title: "Which came first, Amazon or Mario?"
description: "Amazon vs Mario: Mario came first, by 13 years — 1981 against 1994. What happened in each case, and why the dates are often given differently."
url: https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/amazon-vs-super-mario/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Which came first, Amazon or Mario?

**Which came first, Amazon or Mario?: Mario**

1981 — 13 years before Amazon

Mario came first, by 13 years. Mario debuted as "Jumpman" in the arcade game Donkey Kong.

## Side by side

|  | Amazon | Mario |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Year | 1994 | 1981 |
| Date | 1994-07-05 | — |
| Category | technology | media |
| What happened | Jeff Bezos incorporated the company in Washington state. | Mario debuted as "Jumpman" in the arcade game Donkey Kong. |

## Amazon

Amazon was incorporated on 5 July 1994, originally as Cadabra, and the website opened in July 1995 selling only books. The 1994 incorporation date is used here because it is the company's own founding date; if you mean the shop, 1995 is the answer. Either way it predates Google by three or four years and eBay by about a year.

## Mario

Mario first appeared in Donkey Kong in 1981, credited as Jumpman, four years before Super Mario Bros. of 1985 made him a household name. He wears a cap because animating hair at that resolution was impossible, and dungarees because they made his arm movements legible against his body — the design is entirely a consequence of an 16×16 pixel sprite.

## Common questions

### Which came first, Amazon or Mario?

Mario, by 13 years — 1981 against 1994.

### When did Amazon start?

1994. Jeff Bezos incorporated the company in Washington state.

### When did Mario start?

1981. Mario debuted as "Jumpman" in the arcade game Donkey Kong.

## Related pages

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- [Amazon or email?](https://atoneplace.net/which-came-first/amazon-vs-email/)

## Sources

- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]