The ancient Babylonians calculated pi roughly 4,000 years ago.
What Is Pi?
Pi represents the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter. The first calculation of pi as 3.14 is attributed to Greek mathematician Archimedes, who lived in the third century B.C.. He used the Pythagorean Theorem, a geometric theorem involving triangles, to accurately calculate the number. It wasn't until the 1700s that the Greek letter we commonly see began to be used to represent pi.
Pi Day has been recognized on March 14 ‘officially’ for the last 30 years. Some people who celebrate tend to eat foods that are circular in shape – such as pizza or pie, naturally.
It seems appropriate that March 14 also marks the birthday of renowned theoretical physicist Albert Einstein. Most recently, famed physicist Stephen Hawking passed away today at the age of 76.
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