THE HISTORY
   OF BIRTHDAYS


      The starting point for birthday celebrations, as in most of our holidays, was pagan in nature. The superstitious people believed in evil spirits and used various rituals to keep them away. They would gather to share best wishes and give gifts to their friends. Their motives, of course, were not necessarily altruistic. They believed, or at least hoped, that this would keep evil spirits from influencing their lives. Noisemakers were used as a way of scaring away evil spirits. 
      Possibly the earliest written birthday reference (664-332 BC) comes to us in the following passage from Hebrew: “And it came to pass the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, that he made a feast unto all his servants; and he lifted up the head of the chief butler and of the chief baker among his servants.” 
      Large-scale celebrations of birthdays in Europe began with the cult of Mithras, a cult which originated in Persia but was spread by Roman soldiers through the Empire. 
      Birthday celebrations were rare during the Middle Ages but they saw a resurgence during the Reformation. At that time, they were seen as a good way to transfer customs from the saint’s days to other dates not linked to the newly repudiated veneration of saints. 
      The modern birthday party probably originated in Germany about 200 years ago. They held celebrations for children and they were known as “kinderfeste” – meaning children’s festival. Thus, Germany was the birthplace of the birthday cake. The tradition of blowing out candles, in hopes that a birthday wish would come true, comes from the belief that people praying over flames would protect them from evil spirits and that smoke carries prayers to God in heaven. 
      The song, “Happy Birthday to You” was composed by two sisters, Mildred and Patty Hill, in 1893, but no one really paid attention to it until the original words “Good Morning to You” were changed to “Happy Birthday to You.”



                     

NOTABLE FACTS:

A person’s “golden birthday” is when the age one turns is the same as the day of the month they were born. For instance, a person born on August 21st would celebrate their golden birthday at 21 years old. A golden birthday is also called a “champagne birthday.”

A “half birthday” on “unbirthday” is celebrated for school children whose birthday do not fall on a school day – especially when they fall on holidays or summer vacation.

Unlike a birthday, a person’s “Feast Day” is celebrated on the day that the church’s calendar recognizes a particular saint. For instance, a person named Patrick would celebrate their “feast day” on March 17th, the feast day of St. Patrick. Everyone named Patrick would have a feast day of March 17th. The feast day for a person named Noel would be on December 25th (Christmas). A person named Joseph would celebrate their feast day on March 19th. Francis would be October 4th. Lucy would be December 13th. You get the picture.

More people celebrate their birthday in August than any other month. The two other months in which birthday rates are high is July and September.

The most common birth date in the United States is October 5th and the least common is May 22nd.