Established in 1988 by physicist Larry Shaw, Pi Day is a worldwide celebration of mathematics and the famous number, pi. It occurs on the 14th of March, a date that can be written as 3/14, matching the first three digits of pi: 3.14. That year, Shaw organized a Pi Day celebration at the San Francisco Exploratorium to highlight its importance in mathematics and physics. So, why is pi so significant?

Simply put, pi is the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter, a mathematical constant with an infinite number of digits after its decimal point. It holds immense value in statistics and engineering, but can also be seen in nature. Regardless, the concept of pi has been around for thousands of years, only gaining the Greek letter p in 1706 by philsopher William Jones and mathematician Leonhard Euler.

Pi Day shenanigans include contests to memorize