My Daily Bread Crumbs 14 Mar 2022

Entry posted by sandrewn in Bread Crumbs 225 March 15, 2022

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March 14th 2022 - Holidays and Observances

(click on the day for details)

Christian feast day:
- Leobinus^[251]
- Matilda of Ringelheim^[252]
- March 14 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Constitution Day (Andorra)^[253]
Heroes' Day (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines)^[254]
Mother Tongue Day (Estonia)^[255]
Nanakshahi New Year, first day of the month of Chet (Sikhism)^[256]
Pi Day^[257]
Summer Day (Albania)^[258]
White Day on which men give gifts to women; complementary to Valentine's Day (Japan and other Asian nations)^[259]

Observances

National Learn About Butterflies Day

International Ask a Question Day

International Day of Action For Rivers

International Day of Mathematics

National Write Your Story Day

Fun Observances ( 2 )

Napping Day

Napping Day is an unofficial holiday that falls on the Monday after DST begins in the United States.

The day was created as a way to compensate for the hour people lose because of the time change. But this is one holiday that most people can get behind.

Short Period of Sleep

A nap is a short period of sleep usually taken during the day. Studies have shown that one or more short naps during the day can help increase productivity and alertness. It is believed that many successful people in history napped often. Some of these people were Einstein, Winston Churchill, and Napoleon.

Many Short Naps a Day

Many animals are polyphasic sleepers. This means that they take multiple naps during the day. Until the invention of electricity and affordable artificial lighting, humans slept in at least two long stretches during the night. They first slept for about 4 hours, called first sleep. They then woke up for a few hours during which they smoked, visited their friends, and ran other errands. They would then go back to sleep for what is now called the second sleep. This pattern of sleeping went out of fashion by the 17th century, as more and more people began to afford ways to artificially light up their homes after dark and in the early mornings.

How to Celebrate?

Take a short nap.
If your country does not observe DST, then follow the DST and Napping day schedule of another country. Why lose out on a holiday just because your country doesn’t have DST?

Did You Know…

…that a NASA study among pilots and astronauts found that short naps can increase performance by 34% and alertness by 54%?

~~~~~~~

Pi Day

March 14 is Pi Day. It is a day to celebrate the mathematical constant pi (π) and to eat lots of pie.

It is celebrated in countries that follow the month/day (m/dd) date format, because the digits in the date, March 14 or 3/14, are the first three digits of π (3.14). Pi Day was founded by Physicist Larry Shaw in 1988.

Pi Approximation Day

Because everyone should be able to enjoy a fun mathematical holiday, people in countries that follow the day/month (dd/m) date format honor pi on Pi Approximation Day. The date of Pi Approximation Day - July 22 - when written in the day/month format or 22/7 corresponds to the fraction (22/7) that pi is usually depicted as.

There are many other days during the year when one can honor pi. Some of these are:

March 4: The day marks the passing of 14% of the 3rd month of the year.
April 5: By this day, 3.14 months of the year have passed.
November 10: The 314th day of the year (November 9 in leap years).

An Irrational Number

One of the oldest and the most recognized mathematical constant in the world, Pi (π) is the ratio of any circle’s circumference to its diameter. Its value is approximately equal to 3.14159265. It is an irrational number, which means it cannot be expressed as a ratio of whole numbers, and its decimal representation never ends or repeats.

In recent years, mathematicians have called for replacing pi by tau (τ) as a way to describe the relationship between a circle’s circumference and its radius. In order to spread the word about the advantages of tau over pi, mathematicians around the world celebrate Tau Day on June 28.

Other Mathematical Dates

The Gregorian Calendar is full of dates that when written in a special manner represent a mathematical or scientific concept. Some of these include: Yellow Pig Day, Mole Day, Fibonacci Day, Palindrome Day, and e-Day. Use our Date Pattern Calculator to find out other interesting calendar dates during the year.

How to Celebrate?

Pi is a homophone of pie - the 2 words are pronounced similarly but are spelled differently and mean different things. Celebrate Pi Day by having lots and lots of pie.
Have a pie baking contest. Ask participants to bake pi shaped pies. Combine it with a pie-eating competition.
Have a pi recitation contest. Anyone who can recite the most digits of the constant gets to take home a pie.
Embrace your geekness. Wear a t-shirt that has the numbers of pi on it or sport some pi shaped accessories. Earrings perhaps?
Eat foods that start with a pi, like pineapples and pizza, or foods that are circular in shape, like pancakes and cookies.
Watch the 1998 Darren Aronofsky movie, Pi.

Did You Know

...that pi is represented by the lower case Greek letter, π, because it is the first letter of the Greek word περίμετρος, meaning perimeter?

***

One afternoon while I was visiting my library, I noticed a group of preschoolers gathered for story time. The book they were reading was "There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly." After the librarian finished the first page, she asked the children, "Do you think she'll die?"

"Nope," a little girl in the back said. "I saw this last night on 'Fear Factor.' "

***

Driving with my two young boys to a funeral, I tried to prepare them by talking about burial and what we believe happens after death. The boys behaved well during the service. But at the grave site I discovered my explanations weren't as thorough as I'd thought.

In a loud voice, my four-year-old asked, "Mom, what's in the box?"

***

PULL. If that doesn't work, PUSH. If that doesn't work, we're closed. Come again.

***

A livestock truck overturned in my town, and the accident made the local news. The young reporter who covered the story declared on camera, "Two cows, Black and Gus, escaped into nearby woods."

At the studio there was muffled laughter as they cut to a commercial. After the break, the reporter sheepishly added, "About that overturned truck—make those Black Angus cattle."