It's Pi Day today! But, if you're anything like me, your mind just corrected the 'pi' to 'pie' and you are now fantasising about the warm and deliciously perfect pies that you need to eat before the day is done.
But, let me stop you before the mouth-watering begins! Let's rewind a little and learn everything there is to know about this fascinating day first.
What is Pi Day?
Today is the 30th anniversary of celebrating Pi Day - 'pi' as in the number 3.14159265359 followed by about 22 trillion more digits that we all learned about in geometry, way back in school, and have now gladly forgotten about.
To jog your memory, here's the definition of pi (π): the ratio of a circle's circumference (the distance around the circle's edge) to its diameter (the distance across the circle).
Now these 22 trillion digits after the decimal place do seem to stretch on endlessly, without any noticeable pattern whatsoever, also what we call in math an 'irrational number'.
— Shared Motivation (@SharedMotivati1) March 14, 2018
Why is 14th March celebrated as Pi Day?
A very valid question with a very simple answer! The irrational number 'pi' begins with the numbers 3.14 - also written as 14th March in the month/date/year format - 3/14.
When did the Pi Day celebrations begin?
Physicist Larry Shaw, the former curator of the Exploratorium in San Francisco, is who we need to thank for bringing this wonderful day to our notice. It was back in 1988, when Shaw and his disciples celebrated the first Pi Day at the Exploratorium by consuming slices of pizza and fruit pie, and marching in a circle at 1:59 p.m. (3.14, 1:59 - see what they did there?)
Shaw passed away last year, but the tradition has grown and now Pi Day continues to be celebrated across the globe by lovers of mathematics and desserts alike!
The fun guys at Google, being their usual creative and quirky selves, came up with a special doodle to commemorate the special day.
— Google Doodles (@GoogleDoodles) March 14, 2018
Today’s delectable Doodle - baked & built by award-winning pastry chef and inventor of the Cronut Dominique Ansel - pays homage to this well-rounded mathematical constant by representing the pi formula (circumference divided by diameter) using — what else — pie! And so, obviously we were swayed by Google's dedication to pi(e)! They did it; we just followed suit!
And just as the cosmic coincidences of the world may have it, today is also, what would have been, Albert Einstein's 139th birthday - only giving us further proof that it is indeed a day that's dedicated to the brightest minds of our world.
Without any further delay, let's go back to having you fantasising about all the drool-worthy pies you need to try, because here are the ones you gotta try at least once!
It's just our way of wishing you Happy Pi(e) Day!
1. This beautiful pecan pie that looks too good to be true!
2. This perfectly-crisp-yet-sinfully-smooth apple pie fresh out of the oven
3. This gooey berry pie that's going to have you dreaming about it all day
4. These sweet and perfect mince pies that are going to have you hear music in the backdrop
5. This ridiculously unreal strawberry pie that's making you drool as we speak
Hungry for pie yet? We sure are!
Be right back we're going to get us some pie! Happy Pi(e) Day, once again!
Images: Pixabay, Unsplash