Nintendo Celebrates 137 Years, Predating Sliced Bread and the Wright Brothers
The gaming giant, which began as a playing card maker in 1889, is older than commercial sliced bread, the Eiffel Tower's opening, and countless modern inventions.
Nintendo is officially 137 years old today. While the number may seem arbitrary, the milestone underscores the company's remarkable longevity in an industry that didn't exist when Nintendo was founded.
The company began in 1889 as a maker of hanafuda playing cards before evolving into the gaming powerhouse it is today. To put that age in perspective, Nintendo predates several cultural touchstones. The company is older than sliced bread itself. Commercial pre-sliced bread made its debut on July 7, 1928, when the Chillicothe Baking Company in Missouri began using Otto Frederick Rohwedder's bread-slicing machine. That's 39 years after Nintendo's founding.
Nintendo also predates the public opening of the Eiffel Tower in June 1893, the Wright Brothers' first flight in 1903, penicillin's invention in 1928, chocolate chip cookies in 1938, and bubble wrap in 1957. The company was formed the same year Vincent Van Gogh painted Starry Night.
Today, Nintendo is worth billions of dollars thanks to the success of consoles like the Wii and Switch. The company has expanded beyond games into theme parks and film adaptations. The two Super Mario Bros. movies developed by Illumination each grossed over $1 billion at the box office, with a live-action Legend of Zelda movie in development.
Sources
- GameSpotEstablished publication · recorded Sep 24, 2026Nintendo Turns 137 Today, Making It Older (And Better) Than Sliced Bread