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If you remember anything from your high school geometry class, you might remember that pi is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. But can you remember the value of pi? Nobody knows its exact numeric value, because it goes on forever. But a man in Pennsylvania has just memorized 12,887 decimals of pi, which makes him the North American record holder. Marc Umile was shooting for 13,000, but after three hours and forty minutes of reciting, he fumbled at 12,887. He keeps the numbers straight in his head using sound and rhythm. Independent producer Peter Crimmins has the beat.

Audio Extra

This is what pi to 12,887 decimal places looks like:

3.14159265358979323846264338327950288419716939937510  58209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679  82148086513282306647093844609550582231725359408128  48111745028410270193852110555964462294895493038196  44288109756659334461284756482337867831652712019091  45648566923460348610454326648213393607260249141273  72458700660631558817488152092096282925409171536436  78925903600113305305488204665213841469519415116094  33057270365759591953092186117381932611793105118548  07446237996274956735188575272489122793818301194912  98336733624406566430860213949463952247371907021798  60943702770539217176293176752384674818467669405132  00056812714526356082778577134275778960917363717872  14684409012249534301465495853710507922796892589235  42019956112129021960864034418159813629774771309960  51870721134999999837297804995105973173281609631859  50244594553469083026425223082533446850352619311881  71010003137838752886587533208381420617177669147303  59825349042875546873115956286388235378759375195778  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