World record? Japanese man recites pi from memory to 100,000 decimal places

This entry for slaveforfoofoo. Her and I spoke of Pi just last night.
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/Oddities/061004/K100416U.html

TOKYO (AP) - A Japanese mental health counsellor recited pi to 100,000 decimal places from memory Wednesday, setting what he claims is a world record. Akira Haraguchi, 60, needed more than 16 hours to recite the number to 100,000 decimal places, breaking his personal best of 83,431 digits set in 1995, his office said Wednesday. He made the attempt at a public hall in Kisarazu, just east of Tokyo.

Pi is a physical constant defined as the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. It is usually written out to a maximum of three decimal places, as 3.141, in math textbooks. But the number, which has fascinated scientists for centuries, has no theoretical limit to the number of decimal places it can be written to. It is a constant that appears in the proofs of many equations defining the universe. "What I am aiming at is not just memorizing figures, I am thrilled by seeking a story in pi," Haraguchi said.

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