Today is National Pi Day, celebrating everything wonderful about the mathematical constant of 3.14.
It originated in 1988 when a gentleman named Larry Shaw from San Francisco's Exploratorium used March 14th as a day to create homages to pi. Because chatting about 3.14 gets dry pretty quickly, even the Wikipedia page regarding Pi Day mentions celebrations including pie eating, with a photo of Shaw standing beside an array of baked goods.
The idea gained steam (the holiday, not the tasty deliciousness), as scientists and mathematicians--professional, aspiring, and amateur alike--held celebrations around the country. This culminated in 2009 with the U.S. House of Representatives passing a non-binding resolution (H.RES 224) recognizing March 14th as National Pi Day.
The bill's actual language states at one point:
[...] Whereas, according to the 2007 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) survey done by the National Center for Education Statistics, American children in the 4th and 8th grade were outperformed by students in other countries including Taiwan, Singapore, Russia, England, South Korea, Latvia, and Japan;[...]
Japan is acceptable. But Latvia? That's when Congress takes note.
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