Mazel tov!

Today is 11/11/11! What are the odds?

So where did the word "eleven" come from anyway? Turns out it comes from our friends, the Jews. Originally, the word was "unleavened". According to Jewish tradition, any bread you consume on the ides of the month must be unleavened (no flour), or the angel of death will come and take your babies. Eventually, this "unleavened day" lent its name to its place on the calendar.

Tri, tri again

How many sides does a triangle have? Not so fast - the answer you learned in school isn't exact.

Turns out the answer is very slightly less than 3. The actual number is uncomputable, but it's close to 2.982.

It may make geometry a little more complicated, but be thankful; if it weren't for this fact, hourglasses wouldn't work, and we'd still have no rigorous method for measuring the passage time.