From: David HM Spector <spector@zeitgeist.com>

Re: Pi....

I believe the enlightened Legislator who attempted to legislate Pi was none other than Jesse Helms (although this could be a legislative myth!) and when Ol'Jesse proposed it (because he was "sick of all these egg-heads with their big numbers") John Glenn said something on the order of ' if your legislation passes Senator, I wouldn't want to driver over any bridges in your state!'

_DHMS

Not Helms, and not recently. From 'Extraordinary Pi', http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~nickjh/Pi.htm : Indiana State Legislature House Bill No. 246, 1897, set the value of Pi to a to 3. Duh ! Actually the wording of the bill is really unclear and can interpreted in various ways. Other interpretations include 3.2, 4 and 9.2376. The bill goes on in a confused way to contradict other areas of elementary geometry, and to contradict itself. It got passed all the way up to Senate level, then a Mathematics Professor noticed it by chance, informed the Senate, and it was posponed indefinitely at its second reading. Peter Trei