March 14, 2018, marks the 30th anniversary of Pi Day — that’s pi, as in 3.14, not the dessert.
Pi, defined as the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter, has been recognized by humankind for centuries.
However, it wasn’t until 1988 that Larry Shaw organized the first official celebration of Pi Day, according to an article by National Geographic. Shaw ordered pie for his colleagues and they celebrated at the San Francisco Science Museum.
As you get your piece of pie to celebrate the holiday, here are few fun facts to know about pi:
- Pi has been recognized for so long it's even in the Bible. In the book of Kings, it is written that there is a basin three times as far around as it is across. So, in the Bible, pi equals three.
- The first calculation of pi as 3.14 is attributed to Greek mathematician Archimedes. He approximated the number using the Pythagorean Theorem, according to an article by Live Science.
- It was first called "pi" in 1706 by the Welsh mathematician William Jones. Pi, or “π” is the first letter in the Greek word perimitros, which means "perimeter,” according to an article by History Today.
- Pi is an irrational number, which means it can’t be calculated by dividing an integer by an integer. Pi never ends and it never repeats.
- In 2010, the two-quadrillionth digit of pi, and a few digits on either side of it, were calculated by Yahoo tech firm Nicholas Sze, reported a BBC article. The digit “0” took 23 days and 1,000 computers to calculate.
- Pi Day was officially recognized by Congress in 2009. People often celebrate the day by eating pie or wearing Pi Day shirts.
- March 14 is not the only day to celebrate Pi Day. June 28 — 6/28, which is two times pi 3/14 — has also been used to celebrate, according to an article by National Geographic.
Contact Liz Rieth with comments at ejrieth@bsu.edu or on Twitter at @liz_rieth.
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