Indiana is the U.S. state that (almost) tried to legislate a value for pi, via the famous 1897 “Indiana Pi Bill.”

What Actually Happened

  • In 1897, Indiana House Bill 246 was introduced, based on a supposed “new mathematical truth” by amateur mathematician Edward J. Goodwin.
  • The bill effectively implied a value of π\pi π equal to 3.2 (among other inconsistent values) instead of the accepted 3.14159…
  • The Indiana House of Representatives passed the bill unanimously, but the state senate, after being warned by a real mathematician, declined to pass it, so it never became law.

Why People Say “Legislate Pi”

  • The bill tried to enshrine a wrong “solution” to the ancient problem of squaring the circle, which led to incorrect numerical consequences for π\pi π.
  • Because the text was convoluted, it did not clearly state “pi = 3.2,” but the geometry it described only works if you treat π\pi π as 3.2 (and sometimes other wrong values).
  • Over time, the story became a legend summarized as “Indiana tried to pass a law changing pi,” even though the attempt failed in the senate.

Fun Side Notes

  • Modern write‑ups often retell this around Pi Day (March 14) as a cautionary tale about legislating scientific or mathematical facts.
  • There is also a well‑known satire piece claiming Alabama changed pi to 3; that one is pure parody, unlike the genuine Indiana episode.

TL;DR: The “1 US state which tried to legislate a value for pi” is Indiana , via House Bill 246 in 1897, which proposed mathematics that effectively set π\pi π to 3.2 but was stopped in the state senate.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.