If one amateur mathematician had his way, we might not be celebrating Pi Day on March 14th.
Way back in 1897, Edward Goodwin almost convinced the Indiana state legislature to pass the [Indiana Pi Bill](https://www.agecon.purdue.edu/crd/localgov/second%20level%20pages/indiana_pi_bill.htm), which would have legally defined the value of π as 3.2.
As Curiosity.com editor and podcast host Ashley Hamer tells it, Goodwin thought that he had solved a long standing mathematical problem.
“[Mathematicians] were trying to come up with a square that had the same area as a circle, but because you have Pi in the formula for the area of a circle, you can’t actually do that,” she said. “It would mean that one of the sides would have an irrational number.”
Convinced he had the answer, Goodwin helped introduce legislation that eventually passed the Indiana House with a 67-0 vote. But the bill was stopped when it got to the State Senate.
“The Senate realized that you can’t actually make laws defining mathematical truths,” Hamer told Cheddar. “It’d be sort of like making a law saying the Earth is flat. There’s no real reason to even make that law, because that’s not really their responsibility.”
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/everything-youll-ever-need-to-know-about-pi-2).
The dusty, rocky Martian surface and a Chinese rover and lander bearing small national flags were seen in photos the rover took on the red planet.
J&J Shelf Life, Pulse Nightclub Memorial, Consumer Prices Rise. Here is all the news you need to know for Friday, June 11, 2021.
President Joe Biden is calling on global leaders to join him in sharing coronavirus vaccines with struggling nations around the world.
The NFL will spend up to $1 million funding up to five studies that will examine how to better help players ease their pain and find alternatives to opioids.
Turkey’s president has promised to rescue the Marmara Sea from an outbreak of “sea snot” that is alarming marine biologists and environmentalists.
Flights fell 55% in April 2020 compared to April 2019. So, it was shocking to a lot of people that the tiny Ted Stevens Anchorage Airport was bustling.
Government health officials have approved the first drug that they say may help slow Alzheimer’s disease.
California's reservoirs are shrinking quickly as a drought grips the western United States.
A new U.S. government report fails to give a definitive explanation of UFOs spotted by military pilots. It finds no evidence they are linked to aliens — but doesn't deny the possibility either.
A wandering herd of 15 elephants have been journeying in southwestern China's Kunming, Yunnan Province as local authorities try to keep them away from populated areas.
