March 14--Pi Day and Bogey's Birthday

Pi Day is the annual commemoration of a mathematical brain twister. Celebrated today, March 14th (3/14) around the world, Pi (Greek letter “π”) is the symbol used in mathematics to represent a constant — the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter — which is approximately 3.14159.

Pi has been calculated to over one trillion digits beyond its decimal point. As an irrational and transcendental number, it will continue infinitely without repetition or pattern. While only a handful of digits are needed for typical calculations, Pi’s infinite nature makes it a fun challenge to memorize, and to computationally calculate more and more digits.

Since 3, 1, and 4 are the first three digits of π in decimal form. The digits appear in this order in the ISO international standard for representing dates (YYYY-MM-DD): 2015-03-14.

Pi Approximation Day is observed on July 22 (or 22/7 in the day/month date format), since the fraction ²²⁄₇ is a common approximation of Pi, which is accurate to two decimal places and dates from Archimedes.


A sequential time occurs on 3/14/15 at 9:26:53.58979... following the sequence of Pi to all digits, using the America-based system of dating. If the particular date existed, the holiday would be celebrated elsewhere on April 31, as America is the only country that uses the month-first date system.

Bogey, our black Standard Poodle was born on Pi Day. No wonder he's so smart. Happy 13th, Bogey-Boy.