If you have a craving for mathematics or even just a slice of pie today, there's a very good reason for that. Today marks the 30th anniversary of Pi Day, or 3.14 if you prefer. You may remember “π” the Greek letter from math class.
The March 14 holiday pays tribute to the mathematical constant Pi, with the first three digits 3.14 looking like 3/14 or pies. For mathematicians the day honors Pi being the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter and plays a key component in geometry. Before we get into a little bit of the history of Pi, let's look at the holiday itself.
Who started Pi Day?
The international day of Pi was first recognized in 1988 by physicist Larry Shaw. Shaw organized the first celebration of π at the San Francisco Exploratorium science museum and of course chose March 14 because it corresponds with 3.14. Shaw died in 2017, but the legacy of his holiday lives on with math lovers and those who just love eating pie.