Today is e-day — the day that millions come together worldwide in praise and glory of the number e, which is approximately 2.718…
But this is not the only e-day. Indeed, there are many others that appear to have nothing at all to do with the number.
- In Paducah, Kentucky E-day falls on February 21 and refers to Engineers Day. They have an egg drop contest, tape people to walls, and create edible cars.
- January 1, 2002 was Euro Day, when a whole bunch of countries simultaneous adopted the Euro. Right now 1 Euro is worth 1.2944 US dollars according to Google. Speaking of Google, did you know that their Zurich office has twirly slides, fireman poles, and meeting rooms in the shape of igloos?
- eDay in New Zealand is the day that people can get rid of their e-waste (which to me sounds like spam, but means old computers). Old electronics get sent out to recycling places instead of the landfill.
- And then there’s my favorite: the island of Eday in northern Scotland, one of the Orkney islands.
131 people live there (as of last summer), and the main exports have been peat and limestone (and pirates! Or at least one pirate: John Gow). They have a new Heritage and Visitor Centre, and enough B&Bs for a local tourists. There is however, no evidence of a “Spend e-day on Eday!” marketing campaign — they might want to try that.*
*Using the 2 July version of e-Day, presumably. Though today it’s a balmy 34°F up on the isle, so perhaps it could be a biannual tradition.
The fancy e was created by Acf and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
February 8, 2009 at 9:17 am |
Like having two birthdays in one week! Thanks.
But why today and not yesterday?
February 8, 2009 at 2:30 pm |
At one point I’d planned on posting it before the actual e-day, but a slew of meetings on Friday, followed by Roller Skating Night at the kiddos’ school, meant that I didn’t have a chance until it was already Feb 7.
October 23, 2009 at 5:38 pm |
this is awesome, im thinking about being the number e for halloween but can’t think of a good costume….
February 2, 2012 at 8:03 pm |
Costume: Wear an i-patch, throw pi s, and have a very negative expression.
e^(i pi)=-1