Birthday 244102 225784243 2008-07-15T11:29:46Z 195.222.6.6 /* Traditions */ {{Articleissues|article=y|OR = February 2008|refimprove = April 2007}} {{otheruses}} <!--[[Image:Gabe-birthday.jpg|thumb|200px|Man with birthday cake]]--> [[Image:B'day.jpg|A child's birthday celebration|thumb|400px]] '''Birthday''' or '''B'days''' is the name given to the date of the anniversary of a person's birth. People in many cultures celebrate this [[anniversary]]. It is traditionally marked by a birthday [[party]] or, in some particular cases, a [[rite of transition]]. It is thought the large-scale celebration of birthdays in Europe began with the cult of [[Mithras]], which originated in [[Persia]] but was spread by soldiers throughout the [[Roman Empire]]. Such celebrations were uncommon previously so practices from other contexts such as the [[Saturnalia]] were adapted for birthdays.{{Fact|date=March 2008}} Because many Roman soldiers took to [[Mithraism]], it had a wide distribution and influence throughout the empire until it was supplanted by [[Christianity]]. The [[Judaism|Jewish]] perspective on birthday celebrations is disputed by various [[rabbi]]s.<ref>[http://rchaimqoton.blogspot.com/2007/04/happy-birthday.html Reb Chaim HaQoton: Happy Birthday!] April 17, 2007</ref> The celebration of birthdays is not universal. Some people, such as [[Orthodox Christianity|Orthodox Christians]] prefer name day celebrations, and [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] do not celebrate either, considering their origins to be [[paganism|pagan]] festivals along with [[Christmas]] and [[Easter]]. Some communites, may celebrate both naming days and birthdays (as is the case in many rural communities in Spanish speaking countries). == Birthday cake == {{main|Birthday cake}} The [[birthday cake]] is traditionally highly decorated, and typically covered with lit [[candle]]s when presented, the number of candles signifying the age of the celebrant. The person whose birthday it is may make a silent [[Wish (fiction)|wish]] and then blow out the candles. It is also customary for the person celebrating their birthday to cut the initial piece of the cake as a newlywed couple might with a [[wedding cake]].{{Fact|date=June 2008}} Birthday cakes date back as far as the [[Middle Ages]] when the English would conceal symbolic items such as gold coins, rings and thimbles inside their cakes.{{Fact|date=June 2008}} Each item was associated with a prediction. For example, a person finding a gold coin in a birthday cake would supposedly become wealthy; a person discovering a thimble would never marry. Sometimes special candles are substituted for the many individual candles in the shape of a [[numeral]]. For example, on the fifth birthday, there may be one candle on the cake in the shape of the numeral five, and on the fiftieth birthday there may be two candles on the cake, one in the shape of the numeral five followed by the other in the shape of the number zero. == Traditions == In addition to parties, it is often common for people to receive [[gift]]s on their birthdays. There are also traditions of [[surprise party#Birthday surprise parties|surprise parties]].{{Fact|date=June 2008}} However, in certain circles{{who|date=June 2008}}, it is expected of the person celebrating their birthday to treat their party guests instead; this varies depending on the local culture and may involve party gifts or other gestures.{{Fact|date=June 2008}} In most [[English language|English]]-speaking countries it is traditional to sing the [[song]] ''[[Happy Birthday to You]]'' to the honored person celebrating a birthday. The Happy Birthday song tune is thought{{who|date=June 2008}} to be the most frequently sung melody in the world. Similar songs exist in other languages such as "Lang zal hij/zij leven" in Dutch, "Õnne soovime Sul" in Estonian, "Zum Geburtstag Viel Glück" in German, "Que los cumplas feliz" or "Feliz cumpleaños a tí" in Spanish, "Parabéns a você" in Portuguese, "Sto lat" in Polish, "Lá Bhreithlá Shona Duit" in Irish, "Joyeux Anniversaire" in French, "Tanti Auguri a te" in Italian and "Iyi ki dogdun, Mutlu Yillar Sana" in Turkish.{{Fact|date=June 2008}} == Special birthdays== [[Image:birthday.jpg|A birthday cake|thumb|170px]] * In most legal systems, one becomes a legal [[adult]] on a particular birthday (often 18th or 21st), and at different ages gains different rights and responsibilities — [[voting]], certain [[recreational drug use|drug]] use (for example, [[alcohol]], purchasing [[tobacco]]), eligibility for [[military draft]] or voluntary enlistment, purchasing [[lottery]] tickets, vehicle driving licences, etc.{{Fact|date=June 2008}} * Many cultures have one or more [[coming of age]] birthdays: ** Jewish boys have a [[bar mitzvah]] on or around their 13th birthday. [[Jew]]ish girls observe a [[bat mitzvah]] on or around their 12th birthday, or sometimes on or around their 13th birthday in [[Reform Judaism|Reform]] and [[Conservative Judaism|Conservative]] [[Judaism]]. **In some Christian traditions, generally [[Catholic]] and [[Anglican]], [[Confirmation]] is the ritual by which a young person receives a Sacrament thought to bestow certain gifts of the Holy Spirit. The timing of the reception of this Sacrament serves, on a sociological level, as a sort of "rite of passage" into adulthood. ** In [[Latin America]] the ''[[quinceañera]]'' celebration traditionally marks a girl's 15th birthday. ** Some girls and a few boys in the [[United States]] have "[[Sweet sixteen (birthday)|sweet sixteen]]" birthday parties. ** In the [[United Kingdom]] 18th and 21st are traditional coming of age birthdays.{{Fact|date=June 2008}} ** In many Asian countries, the 14th birthday is celebrated as the day one becomes a man, or a woman, in society.{{Fact|date=June 2008}} ** Many [[Filipino people|Filipino]] girls celebrate their 18th birthdays with a [[cotillion]] and debutante ball, commonly known as a [[Debutante|debut]].{{Fact|date=June 2008}} *The birthdays of historically significant people, like national heroes or founders, are often commemorated by an official [[holiday]]. Some saints are remembered by a liturgical feast (sometimes on a presumed birthday). By analogy, the Latin term ''Dies natalis'' is applied to the anniversary of an institution (such as a university). *A person's Golden Birthday occurs when they turn the age of their birth day (i.e. when someone born on the 12th of the month turns 12). ===Official birthdays=== Some notables, particularly [[monarch]]s, have an ''official birthday'' on a fixed day of the year, which may not necessarily match their actual birthday, but on which celebrations are held. Examples are: * The King's or [[Queen's Official Birthday]] in [[Australia]], [[Fiji]], [[New Zealand]], and the [[United Kingdom]]; in [[Canada]] this day is known as [[Victoria Day]]. * [[Jesus]] of [[Nazareth]]'s traditional birthday is celebrated as [[Christmas Day]] around the world: [[25 December]]. As some [[Eastern Christianity|Eastern]] churches use the [[Julian calendar]], [[25 December]] falls on [[7 January]] in the [[Gregorian calendar]] every year until [[2100]]. * The [[Grand Duke's Official Birthday]] in [[Luxembourg]]: [[23 June]]. * The King's official birthday in [[Belgium]]: [[November 15]] (on saint Leopold, liturgical feast of the dynasty's founder's patron saint).{{Fact|date=June 2008}} * The [[Yang di-Pertuan Agong]] of [[Malaysia]] celebrates his federal official birthday on the first Saturday of June. * ''Koningsdag'' or ''[[Koninginnedag]]'' in the Kingdom of the [[Netherlands]] is fixed on [[30 April]] (Queen's Day; celebration of the reigning Queen's accession). Queen Beatrix fixed it at the birthday of her mother, the previous Queen, to avoid the winter weather associated with her own birthday in January. While it is uncommon to have an official holiday for a [[republic]]an [[head of state]]'s birthday, this can become a permanent posthumous honour, especially in the case of a so-called [[father of the fatherland]], for example George Washington (best known as [[Presidents' Day]]; also celebrated in the US is [[Lincoln's Birthday]].) ===Name day=== In some [[Roman Catholicism|Roman Catholic]] and [[Eastern Orthodoxy|Eastern Orthodox]] countries such as [[France]], [[Hungary]], or [[Greece]], it is common to have a '[[name day]]'/'Saint's day'.{{Fact|date=June 2008}} This is celebrated in much the same way as a birthday, but is held on the official day of a saint with the same Christian name as the birthday person; the difference being that one may look up a person's name day in a calendar, or easily remember common name days (for example, ''John'' or ''Mary''); however in pious traditions, the two were often made to concur by giving a newborn the name of a saint celebrated on its birthday, or even the name of a feast, for example, ''Noel'' or ''Pascal'' (French for Christmas and "of Easter"). ===Alternative birthdays=== People born on February 29, which occurs only during leap years, often celebrate their birthday in other years on [[February 28]], or [[March 1]] (the first day they have, measured in whole years, a new [[Ageing|age]]).{{or|date=June 2008}} In school, a [[half-birthday]] or other [[unbirthday]] is sometimes celebrated for those whose birthdays do not fall on a school day (especially for birthdays falling during holiday and vacation periods). (Several school websites deal with this problem, and there is a book "The Class with the Summer Birthdays" by Dian Curtis Regan.) {{or|date=June 2008}} ==Timezone issues== A person's birthday is usually recorded according to the time zone of the place of birth. Thus people born in [[Samoa]] at 11:30 PM will record their birthdate as one day before [[Coordinated Universal Time]] (UTC) and those born in the [[Line Islands]] will record their birthdate one day after UTC. They will apparently be born two days apart, while some of the apparently older ones may be younger in hours. Those who live in different time zones from their birth often exclusively celebrate their birthdays at the local time zone. In addition, the intervention of [[Daylight Saving Time]] can result in a case where a baby born second being recorded as having been born up to an hour before their predecessor<ref> WRAL.com [http://www.wral.com/news/local/story/2011296/ Daylight-Saving Causes Twin Arrival Pickle]</ref>. ==See also== * Various birthdays are mentioned on the pages devoted to each day of the year, from [[January 1]] to [[December 31]] * [[Birthday paradox]] * [[Birthday attack]] * [[East Asian age reckoning]] - a different method of age reckoning to birthdays that is used in some Asian countries. * [[Half-birthday]] * [[Death anniversary]] * [[Astrology]] **[[Natal chart]] **[[Horoscope]] * [[Unbirthday]] * [[Decimal Birthday]] * [[Sashtiabdhapoorthi]] * [[Zodiac stones]] ==References== {{reflist}} ==Further reading== * {{cite book|last=Curtis Regan|first=Dian|title=The Class With the Summer Birthdays|publisher=Henry Holth & Co|date=March 1991|isbn=978-0805016574}} <!-- ==External links== --> {{commons|Birthday}} {{wikiquote}} <!-- please do not add links to shopping sites selling "birthday goods" and the like. Wikipedia is not a mall; such links will be deleted very quickly. --> [[Category:Birthdays| ]] [[az:Ad günü]] [[cs:Narozeniny]] [[da:Fødselsdag]] [[de:Geburtstag]] [[es:Cumpleaños]] [[eo:Naskiĝtago]] [[fr:Anniversaire]] [[fy:Jierdei]] [[gl:Aniversario]] [[ko:생일]] [[id:Ulang tahun]] [[it:Compleanno]] [[he:יום הולדת]] [[nl:Verjaardag]] [[ja:誕生日]] [[no:Fødselsdag]] [[nn:Fødselsdag]] [[km:ពិធី​ខួប​កំណើត]] [[pl:Urodziny]] [[pt:Aniversário]] [[ksh:Jebootsdaach]] [[qu:Wata hunt'ay]] [[ru:День рождения]] [[simple:Birthday]] [[sk:Narodeniny]] [[sl:Rojstni dan]] [[fi:Syntymäpäivä]] [[sv:Födelsedag]] [[th:วันเกิด]] [[tg:Рӯзи таваллуд]] [[yi:געבורטס טאג]] [[zh-yue:生日]] [[zh:生日]]