Pi Day will be celebrated in the Memphis community on March 14. Pi, also known by the Greek letter “π,” is a constant value used in math that represents the ratio of a circumference of a circle to its diameter, which is just about 3.14….15…9265359… (and so on). The date, written numerically as 3/14, corresponds to the first three digits of this never-ending number: 3.14.
The fourteenth of March is also Albert Einstein’s birthday, so all together it’s nothing short of a mathematician’s delight. Any day that combines fun, education, and pie is a day worth celebrating!
The origins of Pi Day trace back to 1988, when physicist Larry Shaw founded it at San Francisco’s Exploratorium, a museum of science and technology. Shaw, known for combining fun ideas with science and math, linked March 14 with pi’s initial three digits. During the inaugural celebration, Exploratorium employees marched around a circular space in the museum, symbolizing pi’s relationship to a circle’s circumference and diameter. The festivities took place at 1:59 p.m., representing the numbers following 3.14 in pi. After the march, Shaw and his wife treated the workers to fruit pies and tea.
Pi Day is celebrated worldwide by math enthusiasts, educators, and curious minds alike. On March 12, 2009, the U.S Congress declared it a national holiday.
So, whether you’re solving equations or savoring pie, Pi Day is both fun and educational – a pop culture phenomenon!
