Hokay, elsewhere 07-22-2019 (7/22) is written 22-07-2019 (22/7) and 22/7 is a classic early approximation of Pi that possibly even predated pi. Ergo, Pi Approximation Day. OR, perhaps, more simply, 7/22, written with a virgule, is a fraction which is the inverse of 22/7, an early approximation etc. BUT WAIT.

I recall being taught about 22/7 and that it was an approximation of Pi and that it was wrong, but sometimes closes enough and all that. Possibly before we were introduced to decimals? Later, we learned Pi as a decimal, 3.14, or even 3.1416, which is really 3.1415927 rounded up and forgot about 22/7 completely. So which is really pi, 3.14 or 3.1415927 (which is really 3.14159265)? They are, all of them, approximations, and arguably just s wrong as poor old 22/2. In fact, we now "know" Pi to approximately 105 trillion decimal places, but that is still just an approximation. There are two things of interest here.

22/7 reduces to 3 and 1/7, which, to 2 places, is 3.14, just like the commonly used decimal version. (Arguably is could still be used for some purposes, who knows, perhaps Boeing actually does so.) But, 1/7 is a very special number, an infinite repeat of the digits 142857, thus: .142857142857142857..., and multiplying it by any number less that 7 is ludicrously easily; one finds where the decimal point goes and erases everything to the left thereof. This involves multiplying the first 2 digits by the desired number and placing the decimal point in front of them. Three times 1/7: 3 x 14 = 42, ergo 1.42857142857142857...; 5 times 1/7: 5 x 14 = 70, ergo 14285.7142857142857...; 4 times 1/4: 4 x 14 = 56, ergo 1428.57142857142857..., etc. Unfortunately, 22/7 fails to confirm to the standard value in the third place, which is pretty seriously approximate.

This brings up the more important issue of exactly how many decimal places to use. There is a whole heap of theory called significance arithmetic which I am not going to go into, but there is a general rule that a numeric expression, especially if the result of a computation should not appear to be more accurate than the actual accuracy of the measurements involved. So you decide to find the circumference of your dinner plates, whip out an old yardstick given to your grandmother as a promotion by a fabric retailer and measure the diameter, which is 10 and 1/8th plus roughly half of an eighth ( the yardstick only measures down to eighths). You call it 10 and 3/16 and your calculator tells you that is 10.1875. Your trusty calculator uses 8 digits for pi to impress buyers with its precision and quickly computes 10.1875 * 3.14159265 = 32.004975122, which is absolute garbage because your measurement was only good to 4 places. You should round the result to 4 places, and since the 4th place is a 9, you get 32.0050. It would've been wiser to simply use 4Pi to 4 places, 3.1416, giving you 32.00505, which you then round to 32.0051.

So, Pi approximation day is redundant except as a reminder to be careful when choosing Which approximation of Pi to use.

07-22-1209 brought us the opening salvoes of the Albigensian Crusade (or Cathar genocide) in the form of the first military action of said "crusade", the Massacre at Béziers. It seems that a bunch of European Christians were sufficiently scandalized by the corrupt and dissolute lifestyles so prevalent among the Catholic clergy in Languedoc that they began preaching and acting out heretical anti-materialist reformist doctrines, mainly as to prayer. The Cathars were practicing Catholics in every way, except one belief - that the ordinary person could pray or talk directly to God*. They have been labeled proto-Protestants because of this. Such satanic deviation from church practices clearly could not be tolerated and Pope Innocent III ordered them to be exterminated, which they were. Naturally, this was facilitated by the fact that the Pope offered their lands and goods to their murderers as a reward. A lot of people think that the Crusades were strictly about waging war on Islam, but there were numerous European crusades aimed at pagans, heretics, apostates, and others with imperfect rituals and doctrines. When viewed strictly as genocides, the European crusades were more successful than those aimed at the Muslims.

* H/T and thanks to Dawn's Meta for that bit of information

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On 07-22-1893, Katharine Lee Bates was so inspired by the view from Pike's Peak that she wrote America the beautiful. Pike not only failed to summit the mountain, but he never heard the song either. Such is life

The Preparedness Day Bombing occurred on 07-22-1916. A parade had been organized by a group advocating US entry into WWI, and conservative and anti-union persons and groups. A bomb was detonated during the parade which killed 10 and injured 40. A couple of union leaders were quickly framed and convicted for the bombing. Eventually, after many years and a great deal of evidence of perjury, false testimony and the like the two victims of the fraudulent trial were pardoned.
Link: https://archive.org/details/frameupincredibl00gent
HT and thanks to the late great eyo

On this day in history:

1209 – Massacre at Béziers, the start of the Cathar genocide at the hands of the Catholic Church and its tools

1456 – John Hunyadi, of Hungary, defeated Mehmet II at the siege of Belgrade

1587 – Another batch of English colonists landed on Roanoke Island

1598 – The Merchant of Venice was entered on the Stationers’ Register, a royal licensing scheme

1793 – Alexander Mackenzie reached the Pacific, the first recorded transcontinental crossing

1802 – Emperor Gia Long unified Viet Nam, after centuries of feudal warfare.

1893 – Katharine Lee Bates wrote America the Beautiful

1894 – The Paris to Rouen motor race was held, falsely claimed to be the world's first.

1916 – Preparedness Day Bombing: In San Francisco, a bomb exploded on Market Street during a parade, killing ten and injuring 40.*

1933 – Wiley Post completed the first solo flight around the world

1937 – The US Senate voted down Roosevelt's proposal to add more justices to the Supreme Court

1942 – The deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto began

1946 – The Irgun bombed the King David Hotel in Jerusalem because they thought the Britisn were foot dragging

1995 – The Hale-Bopp comet was discovered

2003 – Members of the US 101st Airborne murdered Saddam Hussein's sons and grandson

2005 – Jean Charles de Menezes was killed by London Metropolitan Police **

2011 – Norway was the victim of two terror attacks by Anders Behring Breivik

* Followed by a massive frame up and conviction of two labor leaders

** It was claimed that he "had Mongolian Eyes". Presumably, it is illegal to possess such eyes in London.

Some people who were born on this day:

Until we are all free, we are none of us free.

~~ Emma Lazarus

1711 – Georg Wilhelm Richmann, physicist, first known person to die while/from experimenting with electricity
1713 – Jacques-Germain Soufflot, architect, designed France's Pantheon (which has an awesome fiew from the top)
1784 – Friedrich Bessel, mathematician, physicist and astronomer, first successful use of parallax for a sun to star distance
1844 – William Archibald Spooner, it's best that you know no more, really.
1849 – Emma Lazarus, poet, educator and activist, best known for the sonnet "The New Colossus"
1890 – Rose Kennedy
1898 – Stephen Vincent Benet, poet and author
1934 - Junior Cook, saxophonist
1936 – Don Patterson, organist
1937 – Chuck Jackson, singer and songwriter
1941 – Estelle Bennett, singer (Ronettes)
1941 – George (no relation to Bill) Clinton, singer, songwriter, and producer, Dr. Funkenstein
1943 – Bobby (no relation to General) Sherman, singer
1944 – Rick Davies, singer, songwriter, keyboard player
1947 – Don Henley, singer, songwriter, drummer
1951 – Richard Bennett, guitarist and producer
1954 - Al Di Meola, songwriter and guitarist
1963 – Emily Saliers, singer, songwriter, musician and Indigo Girl
1983 – Andreas Ulvo, pianist

Some people who died on this day:

“Capitalism is the same everywhere. In order to survive and prosper it needs a permanent situation of partial scarcity: it needs it to maintain its prices and to create hungry masses to work under any conditions.”

~~ Errico Malatesta

1274 - Henry I of Navarre, Count of Champagne and Brie *
1915 – Sandford Fleming, engineer and inventor, developed Standard time **
1932 - Errico Malatesta, activist
1934 – John Dillinger, businessman
1967 – Carl Sandburg, poet and historian
2004 – Sacha Distel, singer and guitarist
2004 - Illinois Jacquet, saxophonist ***
2005 – Eugene Record, singer, songwriter, and producer. Chi-Lites
2010 – Phillip Walker, singer and guitarist

* also King of Navarre, but so what?

** Standard/universal time could be a boon to all, and is a boon to those who use it, but it was destroyed for most of us by the moronic dweebs who invented stupid crap like daylight savings time, summer time, and all that silliness.

*** his solo on "Flying Home", is critically recognized as the first R&B saxophone solo.

Some Holidays, Holy Days, Festivals, Feast Days, Days of Recognition, and such:

Pi Approximation Day,
Ratcatcher's Day
Hammock Day

Today's Tunes

Georg Wilhelm Richmann

Junior Cook

Don Patterson

Chuck Jackson

Estelle Bennett

George (no relation to Bill) Clinton

Bobby (no relation to General) Sherman

Rick Davies

Don Henley

Richard Bennett

Al Di Meola

Emily Saliers

Andreas Ulvo

Sandford Fleming

Sacha Distel

Illinois Jacquet

Eugene Record

Phillip Walker

Ok, it's an open thread, so it's up to you folks now. So what's on your mind?

Cross posted from http://caucus99percent.com

Open Thread, July 22, Pi Approximation Day, Albigensian Crusade, Estelle Bennett, George Clinton, Emma Lazarus, Emily Saliers