Birthday

There are unique traditions for celebrating birthdays in other countries. In Thailand, a birthday is celebrated with the presentation of fish or birds, blessed water and being released and of course a piñata is part of the celebration in Mexico. In many countries, like Poland and Hungary, people will celebrate their birthdays, but they will also celebrate Name Days. Name Days are celebrations on a particular day of the year that is associated with the persons given name, and are typically celebrated like birthdays.

Having cake is an important part of many different types of celebrations, and the history of the birthday cake is deeply rooted in many ancient cultures. Historians have different views about the origins of the birthday cake. The tradition of having cake for the passing of a year can be traced back to ancient Greece, when cake was eaten in honor of Artemis the moon goddess. In the Middle Ages in Germany sweet cakes were given out to celebrate the birth of Jesus, and then later in history were given as a special treat for a child's birthday. In Canada there is a birthday tradition of hiding a wrapped coin within the layers of a child's birthday cake, and the first person that finds the coin is the first person to get a turn at the party games.

The tradition of placing birthday candles on the cake can also be traced back to ancient Greece's worship on the moon goddess. Historians believe the Greeks placed candles on the cakes as a form of communication with the gods as they believed they lived in the skies, and to make the cake glow like the moon. Today the birthday candle is still surrounded by superstition, as people believe that making a wish and blowing out all the candles will make their wish come true. The blowing out the birthday candles tradition is an exciting part of the celebration for both young or old, the young believe their wish will come true and the old are just happy they can blow out all the candles.

"The Happy Birthday" song was written by two sisters Patty and Mildred Hill in 1893. The sisters worked in the Kentucky education system, and the song was created as a classroom greeting that was originally called "Good Morning to All". The song developed into the birthday song and was copyrighted in 1935, and has grown to be the most popular song ever in the world.

Sending greeting cards can be traced back to ancient Chinese and Egyptian history, but the sending of cards for birthdays started in England during the 1800's. An immigrant from Germany, Louis Prang brought the greeting card tradition to America in the late 1800's ^[1] According to the Greeting Card Association, the average person receives more than 20 cards per year, about one-third of which are birthday cards.^[1]

Playing games have become on of the most long lasting traditions of the Birthday party in modern times. Many of the classic games histories can only be traced back to the 1960's, although, Pin the Tail on the Donkey can be traced back to 1887.

• 1st Birthday
• 16th Birthday
• 18th Birthday
• 21st Birthday
• 40th Birthday
• 50th Birthday
• 100th Birthday

Coming of Age Celebrations

• Bar Mitzvah
• Bat Mitzvah
• Quinceanera