The New Year follows Jesus’ birth.
May Jesus Christ, who walks this earth,
Bless you this night,
This new month’s eve,
This New Year’s Eve,
And fill your hearts with joy,
And fill your hearts with joy.

– song Greek carolers sing on Saint Basil’s Eve

I’ve recently learned that one of the main traditions of celebrating the new year in Greek culture is something called a St. Basil’s Cake. It’s also known as basilopitta, or St. Basil’s bread. The idea is that a coin or charm is baked into the basilopitta, it is cut into pieces, and then whomever is served the piece with the coin will be more fortunate in the coming year.

Well, some mathematicians have taken it upon themselves to ask what the probability of getting the coin in your piece is:

http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20061223/mathtrek.asp

I wonder if it goes well with Ouzo…

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