News

Actions

Pi(e) Day with Heritage Bake Shoppe

Posted at 9:50 AM, Mar 14, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-14 09:50:10-04

It’s March 14–a day also known as National Pi(e) day.

A quick refresher: Pi (or π if you want to get technical) is defined as the distance around a perfect circle, or the circumference, divided by the distance across it, or the diameter. It is also involved in calculating the area of a circle, the volume of a sphere, and many other mathematical formulas you might need in the sciences.

News 3 celebrated at Heritage Bake Shoppe in Virginia Beach. They make home baked goods and handcrafted pies daily. They're especially known for their homemade coconut cream pie and their delicious, flaky crusts.

Where Pi Day began

If you want to go where the day is said to be “invented,” look no further than San Francisco’s Exploratorium. Larry Shaw, who worked in the electronics group at the museum, began the tradition in 1988. Last year was Pi Day’s 25th anniversary there.

Pi Day began as a small gathering with mostly museum staff. Now it’s a public pi extravaganza featuring a “Pi procession,” whose attendees get a number — 0 to 9 — and line up in the order of pi’s digits: 3.14159265 … you get the idea.

The parade ends at the “pi shrine” — a pi symbol with digits spiraling around it embedded in the sidewalk, which was unveiled last year.