The world observes Pi Day on March 14 each year to recognise the mathematical constant Pi. Pi is defined as the reciprocal of the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter, and its value is 3.14. In 1988, American physicist Larry Shaw recognised the day by planning a major party at the San Francisco Exploratorium. The 40th General Assembly of Unesco resolved to recognise Pi Day as the International Day of Mathematics in 2019.
March 14 is the value of Pi for those who use the month/date format. The third month of the year, which is also the value’s starting point, is March. The date of March 14 was chosen since the next number is 14. To commemorate this day, maths lovers organise enjoyable events all over the world. Because pie and pi are homophones in English and have circular shapes, they also eat pie as part of the festivities.
History Of Pi Day
The San Francisco Exploratorium hosted the first formal, widespread festivities on March 14, 1988. A physicist named Larry Shaw organised this event. At this celebration, a number of attendees marched in a circle while munching on fruit pies. After years of increasing popularity, The U.S. House of Representatives formally recognised 14 March as Pi Day on 12 March 2009 by passing HRES 224.
Mathematician Archimedes utilised polygons with multiple sides to simulate circles and found that Pi was roughly 22/7. William Jones used the Greek letter for the first time in 1706. A “p” was used to represent the “perimeter” of circles. Leonard Euler, a Swiss mathematician, introduced this convention in 1737.
Timeline Of Pi Day
March 14, 1988 -The Inception-Larry Shaw celebrates Pi Day for the first time.
March 12, 2009-It’s Official-The U.S Congress declared March 14 National Pi Day.
March 14, 2015-Super Pi Day-The first ten digits of pi were achieved on 9:26:53 a.m. (3/14/15/92653)
August 19, 2017-Legacy That Lives-Larry Shaw passes away as Pi Day leaves its mark on pop culture.
Celebrations on Pi Day
On this day, numerous events take place around the world, with activities such as people reciting Pi and seeing who can get the furthest. Maths enthusiasts, educational activities, music, Pi memorization contests, and pies are just a few ways that museums and science institutions celebrate this day.
Sometimes, tasty foods like pizza pie, fruit pie, etc. go along with mathematical pleasure. Pi is employed in mathematical and scientific calculations, as is well known.
Here are a few interesting Pi facts
1) The number pi is irrational. The number value can go forever if calculated.
2) Just as it is impossible to compute Pi exactly, we can never know the precise circumference of a circle.
3) Albert Einstein’s birthday anniversary falls on the same day as Pi Day. On this date in 2018, the eminent theoretical scientist Stephen Hawking passed away.
4) Issac Newton, a mathematician and the inventor of calculus, determined the value of Pi to at least 16 decimal places.
5) Pi is the basis of an entire language. A book called “Not a Wake” in the Pi language was published in 2010 by software engineer Michael Keith.