Days are plenty… Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Women’s Day etc. are well-known…but did you know of a few unusual (and at times funny!) days?
Check these:
International Men’s Day (Yes! Men too get to celebrate – though only for a day), Buy Nothing Day, International Mother Language day, Singles Awareness Day (aka SAD – celebrated by singles on Valentine’s Day), World Thinking Day, Beer Day, Middle Name Pride Day, Fossil Fools Day, World Party Day, Beat Up a White Kid Day, Bike-to-Work Day, National Sorry Day (not saree day), World Turtle Day, Mixed Race Day, National Doughnut Day, Take Your Dog to Work Day (I would like to add a “…and Make Him Bite Your Boss” Day!), International Lefthanders Day, Melon Day, Ask A Stupid Question Day, International Talk Like A Pirate Day, Software Freedom Day (It’s about Free software, not freedom from software), Apple Day, Boss’ Day (does he not have it everyday?), Global Handwashing Day (what about the rest of the body??!!), Mischief Night, World Vegetarian Day (Jai Ho!), Sweetest Day, Monkey Day...
Anyways, the good news is – there is a welcome addition to this loooong list of days: A day devoted to promote Maths and Science
March 14th has been celebrated by math enthusiasts around the world as ‘Pi Day’. The day also has a dedicated website! (http://www.piday.org/ )
Why 14th March? Well, in American date format it is 3/14 which is approximate value of Pi (3.14)
Till last year, this day was a low-key affair limited only to math enthusiasts (which aren’t many…!)
But this year was different – March 14 this year was officially declared as ‘National Pi Day’ by American Congress. The resolution for the same (available at: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:h.res.00224 ) was passed by the American Congress on 9th March 209…with a thumping majority (391-10...I wonder who those '10' were who opposed the bill).
Though most of the news agencies and websites failed to take a note, CNET news did cover it in detail (http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10194354-38.html?tag=nl.e703 )
The interesting part of this article was mention about division between two major political parties in the US (which just shows that Indian political parties are not the only one smitten by this habit of fighting on each and every issue)
The article notes – Though the purpose of celebrating the day, which is to promote the idea of improving math and science education, is agreed upon by both, the Republicans and the Democrats; they differ on ‘How to achieve this goal’.
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Post Scriptum:
My personal dream is to celebrate, at least once in my lifetime, a ‘Zero Debt Day’ – a day when I will owe nothing to nobody!!!
I am trying hard to sell this novel idea to my Creditors...wish me luck (if you are not one of those...or buy my idea if you ARE one of those)
me likeeee :)
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