http://ask-mark.com/2007/04/28/april-fools-day-hoaxes/ go ahead, ask me anything! Fri, 09 Jan 2009 21:58:02 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 http://ask-mark.com/2007/04/28/april-fools-day-hoaxes/comment-page-1/#comment-8136 Joe Tue, 01 May 2007 13:27:33 +0000 http://ask-mark.com/2007/04/28/april-fools-day-hoaxes/#comment-8136 I tried leaving a comment on this yesterday but it kept deleting it... There's a Straight Dope article relating to #7. The Straight Dope, for those of you who may be unaware, is an awesome article in which questions are answered. It's been running for 30 years or so, originally out of a local Chicago newspaper, and it's pretty big now, with a radio show and one of the largest forums on the internet. It's a rather reliable source of information and entertainment. I won't link to the article, because I think that might be why my comments were getting deleted yesterday, but if you go to the Sraight Dope website and do a search for "state legislature equals pi" (not in quotes) it is the only result to pop up. Anyways, it appears that while the Alabama story was a hoax, our friends in Indiana came dangerously close in 1897 to changing the value. Bill #246, proposed by a physician and an amateur mathematician, which would change the value of pi to one of a few different options, including 3.2, 4.0, 3.23, was originally sent to the "Committee on Swamp Lands" which sent it to the "Committee on Education", which gave it a "pass" recommendation and sent it to the full House (not Full House, which of course did not exist yet), which approved it unanimously 67 to 0. Sent to Senate, it passed the first reading. After that it was held up by a Purdue Professor of Mathematics, Dr. Waldo, who just happened to be in town. The visiting professor later wrote, "A member [of the legislature] then showed the writer [i.e., Waldo] a copy of the bill just passed and asked him if he would like an introduction to the learned doctor, its author. He declined the courtesy with thanks, remarking that he was acquainted with as many crazy people as he cared to know." I tried leaving a comment on this yesterday but it kept deleting it…
There’s a Straight Dope article relating to #7. The Straight Dope, for those of you who may be unaware, is an awesome article in which questions are answered. It’s been running for 30 years or so, originally out of a local Chicago newspaper, and it’s pretty big now, with a radio show and one of the largest forums on the internet. It’s a rather reliable source of information and entertainment. I won’t link to the article, because I think that might be why my comments were getting deleted yesterday, but if you go to the Sraight Dope website and do a search for “state legislature equals pi” (not in quotes) it is the only result to pop up.
Anyways, it appears that while the Alabama story was a hoax, our friends in Indiana came dangerously close in 1897 to changing the value. Bill #246, proposed by a physician and an amateur mathematician, which would change the value of pi to one of a few different options, including 3.2, 4.0, 3.23, was originally sent to the “Committee on Swamp Lands” which sent it to the “Committee on Education”, which gave it a “pass” recommendation and sent it to the full House (not Full House, which of course did not exist yet), which approved it unanimously 67 to 0. Sent to Senate, it passed the first reading. After that it was held up by a Purdue Professor of Mathematics, Dr. Waldo, who just happened to be in town. The visiting professor later wrote, “A member [of the legislature] then showed the writer [i.e., Waldo] a copy of the bill just passed and asked him if he would like an introduction to the learned doctor, its author. He declined the courtesy with thanks, remarking that he was acquainted with as many crazy people as he cared to know.”

]]> http://ask-mark.com/2007/04/28/april-fools-day-hoaxes/comment-page-1/#comment-8133 Joe Mon, 30 Apr 2007 16:18:59 +0000 http://ask-mark.com/2007/04/28/april-fools-day-hoaxes/#comment-8133 There's actually a Straight dope article on #7 (http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_341.html). The Straight Dope, for those of you who may be unaware, is a column in which questions are answered. It's a rather reliable source of information and entertainment, been around for a long time, and started in a local Chicago paper. As it's been around for so long, many many topics are covered, and all the articles are in the archives on the site. Anyways, there's an article on #7. While the actual Alabama story was a hoax, it appears that our friends in Indiana came dangerously close to making their own value of pi. I find it endlessly entertaining that that many people thought it would be fine to alter one of the 5 or so most important numbers in existence. There’s actually a Straight dope article on #7 (http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a3_341.html). The Straight Dope, for those of you who may be unaware, is a column in which questions are answered. It’s a rather reliable source of information and entertainment, been around for a long time, and started in a local Chicago paper. As it’s been around for so long, many many topics are covered, and all the articles are in the archives on the site.
Anyways, there’s an article on #7. While the actual Alabama story was a hoax, it appears that our friends in Indiana came dangerously close to making their own value of pi. I find it endlessly entertaining that that many people thought it would be fine to alter one of the 5 or so most important numbers in existence.

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