Cake with candles, many gifts, the song "Happy Birthday to You"...and your heart starts to beat strongly, as it is the most beautiful day in your life - it is your birthday, the day of your debut in this world. Even if you do not like the other holidays, your birthday is great event, worthy of special attention.

Some birthday celebration history

To celebrate the anniversary of birthday is conventional tradition in many cultures. However, people celebrated days of birth not always. In ancient times, only imperators celebrated their birthdays, because there were no records about common people. The birthday celebration originated in Persia with cult of Mithras and then spread all around the Roman Empire by soldiers, who took this religion. During the Middle Age, the birthday celebration was rather rare event, but it revived in the period of Reformation. However, it is not universal tradition in the West, and in some countries, the name day (Saint's day) celebration is more preferable.

Traditional birthday attributes

Besides the different gifts, from small tokenistic surprises to expensive presents, there are some eternal attributes of every birthday:

Birthday song

Birthday song is one of the main symbols of this day, and it performs while someone brings a cake into room, in honor of person, who celebrates birthday. To sing the song "Happy Birthday to You" is customary in all English-speaking countries, and this melody is the most widespread song in the world, which is singing very often. There are similar songs in other languages, such as "Zum Geburtstag Viel Gluck" in German, "Lang zal hij leven" in Dutch, "Tanti Auguri a te" in Italian etc.

Birthday cake

Highly decorated and with lit candles, the birthday cake is the top of culinary art. The number of candles, as a rule, equals the age of person, but at times there is single candle in the form of a numeral. The person makes a wish silently, and then blows out the candles. If it done within one breathing, and if person will not tell about the wish, it is possible it will come true.

Birthday party

To organize the birthday party, decorated with streamers, balloons, flowers and confetti, is customary in many countries. Such parties for children very often include fun games and shows, with invited clowns and masked cartoon characters, who entertain the birthday person and guests. To arrange the surprise parties is also traditional way to celebrate birthdays. "Sweet sixteen" party, which some girls have in the United States, is variation of special birthday parties.

Birthday testing

It is traditional to perform the initiation rituals such as birthday spanking with a "pinch to grow an inch". In some Britain schools, it is usual to "bump" young people on their birthdays. Moreover, there are "birthday beats" or "birthday bashings" while the birthday boy or girl gets the punches on the arm, which equals their age. The pulling for ears in some countries is also the birthday rite.

Exceptional birthdays

Every birthday is outstanding event, but there are some special birthdays, for example:
    1. Golden birthday (or champagne birthday) is day when the age of someone becomes the same as his or her birthday.
    2. When the most important digit combination, for example 1st, 10th, 50th.
    3. When someone becomes a legal adult or reaches age to get different responsibilities and rights (voting, driving, alcohol using etc).
    4. The age of confirmation, when the young persons become the official members of the Church, is the most notable birthday in some Christian countries.
    5. The quinceanera celebration in Latin America marks a girl's 15th birthday.
    6. The 14th birthday celebrates as the day when boy or girl becomes a man or woman in many Asian countries.
    7. Monarchs or some notable persons in some countries have one, fixed day of the year - the official birthday, which do not match their actual birthday.

Alternative birthdays

    1. Name day or Saint's day in some cultures is even more important than birthday
    2. Half-birthday is a day six months after or before the real anniversary of birth. This day celebrates if the real birthday falls near some widely celebrated holiday, which merges the birthday.
    3. Unbirthday is a day celebrates on any of days in which it is not the person's birthday, and this celebration is popular in schools. Lewis Carroll in "Through the Looking Glass" coined this term.

Some facts about birthdays

About 700,000 birthdays occur every day.

October 5 is the most common birthday in the United States, May 22 is the least common one.

In 1850 in England created the first birthday card.

People spend several billions dollars for birthday presents every year.