2018 National Mathematics Day (NMD)

The National Mathematics Day (NMD) is celebrated every year in India on December 22 to commemorate the birth anniversary of great mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan. The day also recognizes his contribution to the world of mathematics, which includes mathematical analysis, number theory, infinite series, and continued fractions. The NMD was declared by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2012 to mark the 125th birth anniversary of Ramanujan. Born in 1887 in Erode, Madras Presidency (now Tamil Nadu), Ramanujan’s affinity for Mathematics was such that he failed in college exams because of his negligence for non-mathematical subjects. However, his talents were recognized by a mathematician at Madras Port Trust were Ramanujan had started working as a clerk in 1912. In 1917, Ramanujan was elected to be a member of the London Mathematical Society. In 1918 he also became a Fellow of the Royal Society, becoming the youngest person to achieve the feat. But due to ill health, he died in 1920 at the age of 32.