Everybody has one. A birthday. For every year we are old, we have traveled around the sun one whole time while on this Planet Earth. So in that way, birthdays are ordinary things.
And yet? There are some really interesting bits of history concerning birthdays. Quirky, even. So. Here are the facts, ma’am. Just the facts.
First of all, birthdays haven’t always been celebrated everywhere. Groups such as Jehovah’s Witnesses avoid them for religious reasons. And those early Puritans rejected them as unbiblical. And oh so prideful.
But these days, most cultures have adopted some form of birthday recognition. Although in many cases, the meaning behind it differs by culture.
So, who started this whole “birthday” thing? I mean, the cavemen didn’t have calendars. Not really. As it turns out, the ancient Egyptians started it. Well. Sort of. But back then, the earliest recorded “birthday” celebrations weren’t for peasants, like you and me. They were for the pharaohs. Instead of marking the day they were born, they celebrated the day they were crowned. That was considered their “birth” as a god.
But leave it to the Romans. The Roman Empire was among the first to celebrate birthdays for ordinary men. I should add that at first, this did not include women. They also introduced birthday cakes and parties for the general public. Woot. When in Rome…
Okay. The next thing. The country isn’t called wax. But it sounds like grease. Yes. We can thank the ancient Greeks for candles. They were the first people to place candles on round cakes. They did this to honor Artemis, goddess of the moon. The candles represented moonlight. The tradition of blowing them out and making a wish came later. And so did the association with birthdays.
And now? Name that tune. We all know it. The song Happy Birthday to You was copyrighted for decades. Technically, you needed permission to use it publicly. Yes. Singing it at restaurants or in groups was a violation of the copyright. That was until a U.S. court ruled in 2016 that the copyright claim wasn’t valid.
And here we are in April.
Apparently, births are not equal as months go.
In the United States, more babies are born in September than in any other month.
Here is the whole list.
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Highest birth months
– September – highest number of births
– August
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Middle range
– July
– October
– May
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Lower range
– June
– April
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Lowest birth months
– March
– February
– January
– December
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And finally. If you can extinguish all your candles in one go, your wish will come true.
But you have to follow the rules. You have to make that wish silently. Saying it aloud ruins the magic.
So. If today is your birthday, it might be a good day to consider all these things.
Hey. I just checked. Today IS my birthday.
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“Birthdays are good for you. Statistics show that the people who have the most live the longest.” — Larry Lorenzoni
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“A birthday is not a day to fear. It is a day to celebrate and look forward to the coming year.” — Byron Pulsifer
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“We turn not older with years, but newer every day.” — Emily Dickinson
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