It’s probably no surprise to anyone with even a basic knowledge of mathematics that the International Day of Mathematics is observed on March 14th. After all, the date 3/14 is also the numerical value of the mathematical constant pi (3.14). This is a holiday that’s organized and led by the International Mathematical Union and is supported by a number of other mathematical regional and international organizations.

It’s a holiday that’s been observed since 2019 and is a day that spreads the word about the importance of mathematics around the world. Mathematics is something that can improve people’s quality of life and help solve current and future problems.

The History Of The International Day of Mathematics

During the 205th session of UNESCO’s Executive Council, the International Day of Mathematics was first proposed. It was then adopted by UNESCO’s General Council in November 2019.

The following year, this holiday was celebrated for the first time on March 14th. Its initial theme was “Mathematics is Everywhere, “ and every year ever since, a new theme has been chosen for this holiday’s celebrations to focus on a particular segment of mathematics.

Some Pretty Interesting Math Facts

Okay, before you run off we would like to present you and everyone else reading this article today with some pretty interesting facts about math. You really didn’t think that we’d just gloss over the math in a holiday article dedicated to the International Day of Mathematics, do you? Of course not. So grab a beverage, pull up a chair, and let’s go over the following math facts.

• The Old Norse term “hundrath,” which means 120 would eventually become “hundred” in English and come to mean 100.
• If you assemble 24 random people in a room, there’s a 50% chance that two people will have the same month and day of birth.
• Every odd number has an “e” in it.
• The temperature of -40 is the same in both Fahrenheit and Celsius.
• The symbol that’s used for division (÷) is called an obelus.

Observing the International Day Of Mathematics

This is a holiday that’s usually celebrated with activities and events all over the world. Some of these are organized by UNESCO and some are organized by scientific and educational organizations.

This is also a holiday that can be observed by people in a number of different ways. People can enter math competitions, teach some math to other people, or simply spread the love of math throughout the world using the hashtag #InternationalDayOfMathematics.