Pi Day 2021: What is it and why it is celebrated on March 14?

Every year on March 14, the world celebrates Pi Day to recognise the mathematical constant, Pi. It defines as the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter and the value for Pi is 3.14.diameter and its value is 3.14. The day was recognised in 1988 by physicist Larry Shaw as he organised a large-scale celebration at the San Francisco Exploratorium in the United States. In 2019, Unesco’s 40th General Conference decided to observe Pi Day as the International Day of Mathematics.

For people who follow the month/date format, March 14 represents the value of Pi. March is the third month of the year, which is also the initial number of the value. The following number is 14, hence the March 14 date. Maths enthusiasts across the world hold fun events on this day to mark the celebrations. They also eat pie as part of the celebrations due to the words being homophones in English (Pi and Pie) and circular shape.

Here are some more fun facts about Pi:

1) Pi is an irrational number. If calculated the number value can go on forever.

2) We can never know the accurate circumference of a circle as the exact value of Pi can also never be calculated.

3) Pi Day also coincides with the birth anniversary of scientist Albert Einstein. Widely renowned theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking died on this day in 2018.

4) Mathematician Isaac Newton, who is also the father of calculus, calculated the value of Pi to at least 16 decimal places.

5) There is an entire language made from Pi. In 2010, software engineer Michael Keith published a book names 'Not a Wake' in Pi language.