National Yellow Pig Day
Have you heard about the Yellow Pig before? Don’t worry; you’re not alone if you haven’t!
Engage math enthusiasts and creative students with quirky, number-themed content and DIY craft activities celebrating the mathematical absurdity of the Yellow Pig.
- 17 Fun Facts About the Number 17 — a math-themed blog series
- DIY Yellow Pig Craft Challenge — share your creations on social media
- Math Humor & Memes — celebrate the delightful weirdness of academic culture
National Yellow Pig Day originated in the 1960s when two math students from Princeton spent a long time obsessively analyzing the number 17.
It seems that they went a little mad eventually, and decided to invent the concept of a yellow pig with 17 toes, 17 teeth, and so forth… Now National Yellow Pig Day is an important part of the academic calendar, and is celebrated with cake, carols, parades and general revelry.
After Michael Spivak and David Kelly created the National Yellow Pig Day, it became a great math day or celebration for students all over the world.
We’re not kidding when we say that this is a date that has really taken off. In fact, you can find origami yellow pigs and math-themed shirts with yellow pigs on them that have been created just for the day.
Did you know that there have even been National Yellow Pig Day carols that have been made for people to sing on the day?
Here is an example…
The March of the Yellow Pig (1977)
(to the tune of The Battle Hymn of the Republic)
Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the pigShe is trampling on the series where the terms have grown too bigShe’s unleashed the boring lectures of geometry and trigHer proofs go marching on!
Chorus:Kelly, Kelly, how she’s fooled you;Kelly, Kelly, how she’s fooled you;Kelly, Kelly, how she’s fooled you;Her proofs go marching on!
She was fathered by Mike Spivak in a bar across the streetWith beauty in her bosom but with only sixteen feetBecause she was consistent she could hardly be completeHer proofs go marching on!
Create Your Own Yellow Pig
There are a number of different materials you can use to create this. You could create an edible yellow pig, for example, using marzipan. You may decide to create your own plush toy or your own pig sculpture. It all depends on you and how creative you are feeling.
Practice with Numbers
You can also celebrate National Yellow Pig Day by focusing more on the number 17. Why not do your own research about the number and see what you come up with? You never know; you may find that you begin to think about yellow pigs with 17 teeth and toes after a while. Or, perhaps you make up your own mythical creature?
Random Acts of Kindness
You can also use National Yellow Pig Day to do nice things for others. For example, you could try to do 17 kind acts throughout the day? This does not have to be any grand gestures. Simply do nice things for other people or pay them a compliment. You will be surprised by just how good this can make you feel by the end of it as well.
Learn About 17
You can also spend your day looking up some interesting facts on the number 17. Of course, you have the fact that we gave you earlier about 17 being the premium prime number. However, there are a lot of other facts about the number 17. For example, did you know that it was the 17th Amendment of the United States Constitution that granted citizens the ability to choose their senators by carrying out popular vote? It is certainly interesting to do a bit of exploration and to learn more about the different ways that 17 is significant to different people.