How many digits of π can you recite? Generally, 3.14 is all we need. Some may approximate it using the fraction 22/7. Even just 3 is a good enough approximation for some folks. Here’s the lede: I know π to the 52nd decimal place.

How did I learn it? Remember when iPod Touches were new and fun and we had a whole bunch of novelty apps, like Tap Tap Revolution and Temple Run? Those were the days.

Anyway, I had an app that turned memorizing π into a game. You’d type in the numbers, and whenever you got one wrong, it would show you the next 5 digits. That gave me an excellent opportunity to memorize the number in groups of a few digits at a time.

This is how I know π, showing the groups I have it memorized in:

3.14159

265

358979

32384

62643383

27950288

4197169

39937

51058

This is not a very applicable skill: there’s no many situations (except today) where it becomes useful.

Hope you have a good π day!