World Pi Day: Top 5 quotes and fun facts about the mathematical constant

Pi Day is being celebrated today (14 March) to mark the significance of the mathematical constant π (pi). The day in March has been chosen because the first three digits of the mathematical constant are 3.14.

When was Pi day first celebrated?

Pi day was first celebrated in 1988 in San Francisco by physicist Larry Shaw, who led an enthusiastic crowd of pi-ans to celebrate the day by eating pie. The US government declared 14 March as World Pi Day in 2009.

When do Pi day celebrations begin?

The celebration usually kicks off at 1.50pm. When you put together the date (3/14) and time (1.50pm), it forms 3.14159, the approximate numerical value of pi.

Fun quotes about pi

"Love is like pi - natural, irrational, and very important." – Lisa Hoffman, founder and president of Lisa Hoffman Beauty.

"Programming graphics in X is like finding the square root of pi using Roman numerals" – Henry Spencer, Canadian computer programmer who created "regex" software.

"Pi is not just a collection of random digits. pi is a journey; an experience; unless you try to see the natural poetry that exists in pi, you will find it very difficult to learn" – Antranig Basman, mathematician, software developer and director of Lucendo Development Ltd., which specialises in sustainable, open source development for the academic sector.

"Pi is not merely the ubiquitous factor in high school geometry problems; it is stitched across the whole tapestry of mathematics, not just geometry's little corner of it. Pi occupies a key place in trigonometry too. It is intimately related to e, and to imaginary numbers. Pi even shows up in the mathematics of probability." – Robert Kanigel, American biographer and science writer.

"Exploring pi is like exploring the universe" – David Chudnovsky, American mathematician known for making world-record mathematical calculations and inventing a home-made supercomputer with brother Gregory Chudnovsky.