Category: tidbits

Teri Hatcher (Lois Lane on “Lois and Clark”) was a mathematics and engineering major at DeAnza Junior College.

Everything you can do with a ruler and compass you can do with the compass alone.
http://www.cut-the-knot.org/do_you_know/index.shtml

Assuming Rudolph was in front, there are 40320 ways to arrange the other eight reindeer. http://www.jayp.net/trivia/science1.htm

Gaurav Rajav, a 15-year old Virginia high school student, recited 8, 784 digits of Pi — the non-repeating and non-terminating decimal — likely placing him among the top Pi-reciters in the world. He had hoped to recite 10, 790 digits and set a record in the United States and North America. He says, “I’m kind of disappointed, but I guess I did OK.”

Hiroyuki Goto is the current world record holder for the most digits of Pi (3.14…) memorized. He spent nine hours and recited 42, 000+ digits correctly in 1995.
http://www.factme.com/category10.html

Babylonians solved the first quadratic equation in about 1950 BC.