19 March 2010

PI DAY

(I know I'm a couple of days late, but better late than never!)

The FoFo and I went to this restaurant the other day, called "πie."  I don't even know how to pronounce that!  I mean, they call it "Pie" and think they're clever, but I think just the opposite.  
In fact, I was hoping the i would be i and the e would be e.  THAT WOULD BE CLEVER.  I would eat there all the time.  I still wouldn't know how to pronounce the name.

So Pi Day officially happened in the US last Sunday, because it was March 14th, but I got to wondering--what about ALL those countries that put the day first, and then the month?  WHEN do they celebrate Pi Day?  

Since pi is approximated to 3.14159... people in the US celebrate it March 14 as in 3/14, but countries that do DD/MM don't celebrate Pi Day on the 31st of April, they celebrate on July 22, that is, 22/7, a more precise approximation for pi.

Other days when pi is celebrated:
  • March 4: When 14% of the 3rd month has elapsed.

  • April 26: The Earth has traveled two radians of its orbit on this day (April 25 in leap years), reckoning from the start of the calendar year on January 1. The distance travelled through the entire orbit around the sun, divided by the average distance to the sun, equals 2π; two radians equals 1⁄π of our orbit. This is celebrated exactly on the 41st second of the 23rd minute of the 4th hour on April 26 or the 116th day. (In leap years, it is celebrated exactly on the 3rd second of the 2nd minute of the 12th hour on April 25 or the 116th day.) This celebration is not a Pi Approximation Day.

  • November 10: The 314th day of the year (November 9 in leap years).

  • December 21, 1:13 p.m.: The 355th day of the year (December 20 in leap years), celebrated at 1:13 for the Chinese approximation 355/113.

DID YOU KNOW!?
Albert Einstein was born on March 14, 1879.


2 comments:

ana r. aug said...

That's the hour I was born on April 26th. I never knew!

Jenn said...

hey chela! so I saw your blog on fb and I LOVE it! Just a thought on the pie restaurant...the symbol for pi is very similar to the russian letter that makes the same sound as an english letter "p"...which would be an amusing play on letters/sounds, if you will. Either way its pretty amusing for me since I am obsessed with anything russian. :)