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What is Pi Day? How the holiday got its start

Long ago, Larry Shaw, a physicist at the San Francisco Exploratorium, founded Pi Day and on the first celebration, Shaw and his wife set a table with fruit pies and a tea urn on the museum floor.
Because the date reads 3.14, supporters argued Pi Day could boost math and science in schools, with Rep. Bart Gordon supporting the effort and Rep. Lincoln Davis describing its goals.
Community traditions include contests to spell digits of pi, with Shaw staging events where adults and children lined up to spell out 3.14, and retailers like Blaze Pizza, Burger King, and 7/11 offer Pi Day deals.
In March 2009 the U.S. House of Representatives formally backed Pi Day with a 391-10 vote, though 10 members including Mike Pence opposed it and Rep. Jason Chaffetz wrote, 'I cannot support Pi Day as just one day'.
This Saturday also marks Albert Einstein's birthday, which shares March 14 with Pi Day, now eclipsing National Pie Day observed on Jan. 23.

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