It’s Pi Day, which sparked one of the greatest Alabama urban legends of all time

At one time many people accused Alabama legislators for having their fingers in the wrong pi.

March 14 (3/14) is known around the world as Pi Day (3.14). Many Alabamians may not know that our state has a unique and interesting relationship with pi.

The story goes like this: in 1998, a group of scientists in New Mexico discovered a press release sent out by NASA in Huntsville. NASA engineers and mathematicians were furious with the Alabama legislature for passing a law that redefined pi from 3.14159 to 3.0. The legislature had apparently been under pressure from religious groups to redefine pi “in order to bring it in line with Biblical precepts,” according to Snopes.com.

For many, this story would not seem too far-fetched for the Alabama legislature. But the catch of the story is that the press release was first sent out on April 1 – April Fool’s Day. A New Mexican physicist, Mark Boslough, crafted the “press release,” which was posted to the newsgroup talk.origins and printed in the New Mexicans for Science and Reason newsletter. Talk.origins even posted a confession the next day and explained that it was a prank.

But this is the internet, where everything that is published must be true. Boslough’s press release was reposted to a few other news sites and readers forwarded the story to their friends and family. This early viral story was considered by many to be 100% true. Many even called the legislature to protest the law. For years the rumor persisted until Snopes.com officially debunked it.

Boslough originally wrote the fake press release to bring attention to a controversy in New Mexico over teaching evolution. Alabama was probably singled out because of its conservative politicians, strong religious background, and powerful science and engineering center in Huntsville. Interestingly, Tennessee is mentioned passing this exact same law thirty years before in Robert Heinlein’s 1961 novel ‘Stranger in a Strange Land.’ Maybe that’s where Boslough got his idea.

This urban legend does have a tiny point of historical precedence. In 1897, the Indiana House of Representatives passed a bill that gave pi values other than 3.14 when calculating the area of circles. However, that bill died in the Indiana Senate.

Boslough’s April Fool’s Day prank has become a legend among urban legends. The Museum of Hoaxes listed it as number 11 on its Top 100 Greatest April Fool’s Day Hoaxes of All Time.

So on Pi Day, eat some pie, and be thankful that Alabama’s involvement in the history of pi is just a fun urban legend.