the u.s. government recognized pi day as a holiday in 1894.
the u.s. government recognized pi day as a holiday in 1894.
when did the u.s. government recognize pi day as a holiday?
1894
larry shaw, the "prince of pi", invented the holiday pi day in 1988 while at the exploratorium. during an off-site staff retreat in 1988, he started talking with his co-workers, like ron hipschman, about the mysteries of mathematical constants. shaw came up with the idea to link pi (3.14159…), which begins with 3.14, with the date 3/14 or march 14. co-workers built on the idea and they had a mini-celebration with just the staff, starting with eating of pies. the next year, the holiday was held for all at the museum and every year since, even when the museum was closed during its move. the celebration includes a parade at 1:59 p.m. with visitors holding a sign with a digit of pi, a pi shrine, eating of pies (fruit and pizza), singing happy birthday to albert einstein, and more. larry shaw would lead the parade in his red cap with the digits of pi. pi day was recognized as a national holiday in 2009 and is internationally celebrated. also, 2015 was a special year with it being written 3/14/15, calling it "pi day of the century". shaw felt the best thing about pi day was making math more accessible, fun for those who may have had problems in school. when asked if he was proud with events being held around the world, "yes and no. it's not mine; it's everybody's. i'm just the guy holding the pole."
larry shaw (pi)
massachusetts institute of technology has often mailed its application decision letters to prospective students for delivery on pi day. starting in 2012, mit has announced it will post those decisions (privately) online on pi day at exactly 6:28 pm, which they have called "tau time", to honor the rival numbers pi and tau equally. in 2015, the regular decisions were put online at 9:26 am, following that year's "pi minute". june 28 is "two pi day", also known as "tau day". 2, also known by the greek letter tau (τ) is a common multiple in mathematical formulae. some have argued that τ is the more fundamental constant, and that tau day should be celebrated instead. celebrations of this date jokingly suggest eating "twice the pie".
pi day