Damn mathematicians and rounding results to suite their needs!
by Johan on Feb.17, 2010, under Blog
Random thought for the day : In March 1856 Mount Everest, or Peak XV as it was known back then was announced to be 29,002ft high. While the actual mathematical finding was that it was only 29,000ft exactly! Why? Here’s why:
The arbitrary addition of 2 ft (61 cm) was to avoid the impression that an exact height of 29,000 feet (8,839.2 m) was nothing more than a rounded estimate.
Go check it out on wikipedia 