National Mathematics Day: On Wednesday, India commemorates the great mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan Aiyangar's birthday (December 22). National Mathematics Day, also known as Maths Day, is observed on this day.

Ramanujan was a brilliant Indian mathematician who, despite having had no formal education in advanced mathematics, mastered trigonometry at the age of 12 and went on to make significant contributions to number theory, infinite series, and continuing fractions.

He was born on December 22, 1887, in Erode, Tamil Nadu. At the age of 14, Ramanujan enrolled at Madras' Pachaiyappa College.

In 1912, Ramanujan was working at the Madras Port Trust when his abilities were recognised by several of his coworkers, one of whom introduced him to Trinity College, Cambridge University professor GH Hardy. In 1913, he met Hardy, and a year later, he proceeded to Trinity College to study under the Englishman's supervision.

With Hardy's help, he graduated from Cambridge in 1916 and went on to write numerous great works on his subject.

Last year, Ramesh Pokhriyal, aka "Nishank," a leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), claimed in the media that Ramanujan was the "epitome of mathematical excellence."

National Mathematics Day: A Brief History

While paying respect to Ramanujan in Chennai in 2012, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh declared December 22 as National Mathematics Day.

Every year since then, the day has been observed as National Mathematics Day.

The impact of Ramanujan on popular culture

The world has always been enthralled by this mathematician's theorems and other accomplishments.

In 2015, Dev Patel, a British-Indian actor, played this unusually bright mathematician in the film "The Man Who Knew Infinity." It delves into Ramanujan's lovely friendship with Hardy and offers insight into his youth in India.

Ramanujan died on April 26, 1920, at the age of 32 due to failing health.