Why are people so fascinated with pi? I know, I know, long history, interesting twists and turns (you've just got to read Petr Beckman's A History of Pi), but I

Why are people so fascinated with pi? I know, I know, long history, interesting twists and turns (you've just got to read Petr Beckman's A History of Pi), but I mean most people don't know that history. Why not e (there are cool phrases to memorize that, too)? Or, why not the value of the fine structure constant, that holds the mystery of the universe. My theory is that pi is the first interesting mathematical number that people often encounter in grade school (even before sqrt(2)), so it holds a special place in their fascination.