The day marks the birth anniversary of famous mathematician Srinivasa Ramanujan.
The day was announced on 26 February 2012 by the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to mark the 125th anniversary of the birth of the Indian mathematical genius Srinivasa Ramanujan (22 Dec 1887- 26 Apr 1920).
In India, 2012 was also observed as National Mathematics Year.