Birthday Sleep Facts

For those hoping birthday traditions might lull them into sleep, prepare to be mildly disappointed. From ancient Roman candles to modern gift-wrapping fatigue, it’s a stroll through the history of celebrating getting older.

Perfect for bedtime stories or insomnia relief.

Transcript

Welcome to the I Can't Sleep podcast,

Where I help you drift off one fact at a time.

I'm your host,

Benjamin Boster,

And today's episode is about birthdays.

This is a sponsored episode as a birthday gift to Riley.

Happy 12th birthday,

Riley.

A birthday is the anniversary of the birth of a person or,

Figuratively,

Of an institution.

Birthdays of people are celebrated in numerous cultures,

Often with birthday gifts,

Birthday cards,

A birthday party,

Or a rite of passage.

Many religions celebrate the births of their founders or religious figures with special holidays,

E.

G.

Christmas,

Mawlid,

Buddha's birthday,

Krishna,

Jamashtami,

And Girpurb.

There is a distinction between birthday and birth date,

Also known as date of birth.

The former,

Except for February 29th,

Occurs each year,

E.

G.

January 15th,

While the latter is the complete date when a person was born,

E.

G.

January 15th,

2001.

In most legal systems,

One becomes a legal adult on a particular birthday when they reach the age of majority,

Usually between 12 and 21,

And reaching age-specific milestones confers particular rights and responsibilities.

At certain ages,

One may become eligible to leave full-time education,

Become subject to military conscription,

Or to enlist in the military,

To marry with parental consent,

To marry without parental consent,

To vote,

To run for elected office,

To legally purchase or consume alcohol and tobacco products,

To purchase lottery tickets,

Or to obtain a driver's license.

The age of majority is when minors cease to legally be considered children and assume control over their persons,

Actions,

And decisions,

Thereby terminating the legal control and responsibilities of their parents or guardians over and for them.

Most countries set the age of majority at 18,

Though it varies by jurisdiction.

Many cultures celebrate a coming-of-age birthday when a person reaches a particular year of life.

In Canada and the United States,

Families often mark a girl's 16th birthday with a sweet 16 celebration,

Often represented in popular culture.

In some Hispanic countries,

As well as Brazil,

The quinceañera in Spanish,

Or festa de quinceañera,

Portuguese celebration,

Traditionally marks a girl's 15th birthday.

In Japan,

People celebrate coming-of-age day for all those who have turned 18.

In the Philippines,

A coming-of-age party called a debut is held for young women on their 18th birthday and young men on their 21st birthday.

Jewish boys have a bar mitzvah on their 13th birthday.

Jewish girls have a bat mitzvah on their 12th birthday,

Or sometimes on their 13th birthday in Reform and Conservative Judaism.

This marks the transition where they become obligated in commandments from which they were previously exempted and are counted as part of the community.

Some cultures celebrate landmark birthdays in early life or old age.

In Korea,

Many celebrate a traditional ceremony of Baekil,

Feast for the 100th day,

And Doljanchi,

Child's first birthday.

In some Asian countries that follow the zodiac calendar,

There is a tradition of celebrating the 60th birthday.

In British Commonwealth nations,

Cards from the royal family are sent to those celebrating their 100th and 105th birthdays,

And every year thereafter.

In many cultures and jurisdictions,

If a person's real birthday is unknown,

For example if they are an orphan,

Their birthday may be adopted or assigned to a specific day of the year,

Such as January 1st.

Racehorses are reckoned to become one year old in the year following their births on January 1st in the Northern Hemisphere and August 1st in the Southern Hemisphere.

In certain parts of the world,

An individual's birthday is celebrated by a party featuring a specially made cake.

Presents are bestowed on the individual by the guests appropriate to their age.

Other birthday activities may include entertainment,

Sometimes by a hired professional,

I.

E.

A clown,

Magician,

Or musician,

And a special toast or speech by the birthday celebrant.

The last stanza of Patti Hill's and Mildred Hill's famous song,

Good Morning to You,

Unofficially titled Happy Birthday to You,

Is typically sung by the guests at some point in the proceedings.

In some countries,

A piñata takes the place of a cake.

The birthday cake may be decorated with lettering in the person's age,

Or studded with the same number of lit candles as the age of the individual.

The celebrated individual may make a silent wish and attempt to blow out the candles in one breath.

If successful,

Superstition holds that the wish will be granted.

In many cultures,

The wish must be kept secret or it will not come true.

Historically significant people's birthdays,

Such as national heroes or founders,

Are often commemorated by an official holiday marking the anniversary of their birth.

Some notables,

Particularly monarchs,

Have an official birthday on a fixed day of the year,

Which may not necessarily match the day of their birth,

But on which celebrations are held.

In India,

Gandhi Jayanti,

The birthday of Mahatma Gandhi,

Is an annual holiday celebrated on October 2nd.

All liquor shops are closed across the country in honor of Gandhi,

Who did not consume liquor.

The king's official birthday,

Or queen's,

In Australia,

Fiji,

Canada,

New Zealand,

And the United Kingdom.

The Grand Duke's official birthday in Luxembourg is typically celebrated on June 23rd.

This is different from the monarch's date of birth,

April 16th.

Koning in the Dach,

In the Kingdom of the Netherlands,

Was typically celebrated on April 30th.

Queen Beatrix fixed it on her mother's birthday,

The previous queen,

To avoid the winter weather associated with her own birthday in January.

The present monarch's birthday is the 27th of April,

And it is also celebrated on that day.

This has replaced the 30th of April celebration of Koning in the Dach.

The previous Japanese emperor,

Showa Hirohito's birthday,

Was April 29th.

After his death,

The holiday was kept as Showa Nohi,

Or Showa Day.

This holiday falls close to the Golden Week,

The week in late April and early May.

Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il's birthdays are celebrated in North Korea as national holidays called the Day of the Sun and the Day of the Shining Star,

Respectively.

In the United States,

Washington's birthday,

Commonly referred to as President's Day,

Is a federal holiday observing the birthday of George Washington on the third Monday of February each year.

Washington's actual birth date was either February 11th,

Old style,

Or February 22nd,

New style.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Day is a federal holiday observed on the third Monday of January each year to mark the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr.

On January 15th.

In Mahayana Buddhism,

Many monasteries celebrate the anniversary of Buddha's birth,

Usually in a highly formal,

Ritualized manner.

They treat Buddha's statue as if it was Buddha himself,

As if he were alive,

Bathing and feeding him.

Jesus Christ's traditional birthday is celebrated as Christmas Eve or Christmas Day around the world on December 24th or 25th,

Respectively.

As some Eastern churches use the Julian calendar,

December 25th will fall on January 7th in the Gregorian calendar.

These dates are traditional and have no connection with Jesus' actual birthday,

Which is not recorded in the Gospels.

Similarly,

The birthdays of the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist are liturgically celebrated on September 8th and June 24th,

Especially in the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions,

Although for those Eastern Orthodox churches using the Julian calendar,

The corresponding Gregorian dates are September 21st and July 7th,

Respectively.

As with Christmas,

The dates of these celebrations are traditional and probably have no connection with the actual birthdays of these individuals.

Catholic saints are remembered by a liturgical feast on the anniversary of their birth into heaven,

Aka their day of death.

In Hinduism,

Ganesh Chaturthi is a festival celebrating the birth of the elephant-headed deity,

Ganesha,

And extensive community celebrations and at home.

Figurines of Ganesha are made for the holiday and are widely sold.

Sikhs celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Guru Nanak and other Sikh Gurus.

Which is known as Gurpurb.

Mawlid is the anniversary of the birth of Muhammad and is celebrated on the 12th or 17th day of Rabi al-Awwal by adherents of Sunni and Shia Islam,

Respectively.

These are the two most commonly accepted dates of birth of Muhammad.

However,

There is much controversy regarding the permissibility of celebrating Mawlid as some Muslims judge the custom as an unacceptable practice according to Islamic tradition.

In Iran,

Mother's Day is celebrated on the birthday of Fatima al-Zahra,

The daughter of Muhammad.

Banners reading Ya Fatima are displayed on government buildings,

Private buildings,

Public streets,

And car windows.

In Judaism,

Rabbis are divided about celebrating their custom,

Although the majority of the faithful accept it.

In the Torah,

The only mention of a birthday is the celebration of Pharaoh's birthday in Egypt.

Although the birthday of Jesus of Nazareth is celebrated as a Christian holiday on December 25,

Historically,

The celebrating of an individual person's birthday has been subject to the theological debate.

Early Christians,

Notes the World Book Encyclopedia,

Considered the celebration of anyone's birth to be a pagan custom.

Origen,

In his commentary on Levites,

Wrote that Christians should not only refrain from celebrating their birthdays,

But should look at them with disgust as a pagan custom.

A saint's day was typically celebrated on the anniversary of their martyrdom or death,

Considered the occasion of or preparation for their entrance into heaven or the New Jerusalem.

Ordinary folk in the Middle Ages celebrated their saint's day,

The saint they were named after,

But nobility celebrated the anniversary of their birth.

The Squire's Tale,

One of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales,

Opens as King Cambuscan proclaims a feast to celebrate his birthday.

In the modern era,

The Catholic Church,

The Eastern Orthodox Church,

And Protestantism,

I.

E.

The three main branches of Christianity,

As well as almost all Christian religious denominations,

Consider celebrating birthdays acceptable or at most a choice of the individual.

An exception is Jehovah's Witnesses who do not celebrate them for various reasons.

In their interpretation,

This feast has pagan origins,

Was not celebrated by early Christians,

Is negatively expounded in the Holy Scriptures,

And has customs linked to superstition and magic.

In some historically Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox countries,

It is common to have a name day,

Otherwise known as a saint's day.

It is celebrated in much the same way as a birthday,

But it 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,

E.

G.

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 day of confirmation,

More seldom one's birthday.

Some are given the name of the religious feast of their christening's day or birthday,

For example,

Noel or Pascal,

French for Christmas and of Easter.

As another example,

Togliatti was given Palmiro as his first name because he was born on Palm Sunday.

The birthday does not reflect Islamic tradition,

And because of this,

The majority of Muslims refrain from celebrating it.

Others do not object as long as it is not accompanied by behavior contrary to Islamic tradition.

A good portion of Muslims and Arab Christians who have emigrated to the United States and Europe celebrate birthdays as customary,

Especially for children,

While others abstain.

Hindus celebrate the birth anniversary day every year when the day that corresponds to the lunar month or solar month sun signs nirayana system,

Saurava-mana-masa of birth and has the same asterism star and nakshatra as the date of birth.

That age is reckoned whenever janma-nakshatra of the same month passes.

Hindus regard death to be more auspicious than birth since the person is liberated from the bondage of material society.

Also,

Traditionally,

Rituals and prayers for the departed are observed on the fifth and eleventh days,

With many relatives gathering.

According to Herodotus,

5th century BC,

Of all the days in the year,

The one which the Persians celebrate most is their birthday.

It was customary to have the board furnished on that day with an ampler supply than common.

The richer people eat wholly baked cow,

Horse,

Camel,

Or donkey,

While the poorer classes use instead the smaller kinds of cattle.

In ancient Rome,

A birthday,

Dies natalis,

Was originally an act of religious cultivation,

Cultus.

A dies natalis was celebrated annually for a temple on the day of its founding,

And the term is still used sometimes for the anniversary of an institution,

Such as a university.

The temple founding day might become the birthday of the deity housed there.

March 1st,

For example,

Was celebrated as the birthday of the god Mars.

Each human likewise had a natal divinity,

The guardian spirit called the genius,

Or sometimes the Juno for a woman,

Who was owed religious devotion on the day of birth,

Usually in the household shrine,

Lararium.

The decoration of a lararium often shows the genius in the role of person carrying out the rites.

A person marked their birthday with ritual acts that might include lighting an altar,

Saying prayers,

Making vows,

Vota,

Anointing and raising a statue of the genius,

Or sacrificing to a patron deity.

Incense,

Cakes,

And wine were common offerings.

Celebrating someone else's birthday was a way to show affection,

Friendship,

Or respect.

In exile,

The poet Awad,

Though alone,

Celebrated not only his own birthday rite,

But that of his far-distant wife.

Birthday parties affirm social as well as sacred ties.

One of the Vindolanda tablets is an invitation to a birthday party from the wife of one Roman officer to the wife of another.

Books were a popular birthday gift,

Sometimes handcrafted as a luxury edition,

Or composed especially for the person honored.

Birthday poems are a minor but distinctive genre of Latin literature.

The banquets,

Libations,

And offerings or gifts that were a regular part of most Roman religious observances thus became part of birthday celebrations for individuals.

A highly esteemed person would continue to be celebrated on their birthday after death,

In addition to the several holidays on the Roman calendar for commemorating the dead collectively.

Birthday commemoration was considered so important that money was often bequeathed to a social organization to fund an annual banquet in the deceased's honor.

The observance of a patron's birthday,

Or the honoring of a political figure's genius,

Was one of the religious foundations for imperial cult,

Or so-called emperor worship.

The Chinese word for years-old,

Sui,

Is entirely different from the usual word for years,

Nian,

Reflecting the former importance of Chinese astrology and the belief that one's fate was bound to the stars imagined to be in opposition to the planet Jupiter at the time of one's birth.

The importance of this duodecennial orbital cycle only survives in popular culture as the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac,

Which change each Chinese New Year and may be used as a theme for some gifts or decorations.

Because of the importance attached to the influence of these stars in ancient China and throughout the Sinosphere,

East Asian age reckoning previously began with one at birth and then added years at each Chinese New Year,

So that it formed a record of the sui one had lived through rather than of the exact amount of time from one's birth.

This method,

Which can differ by as much as two years of age from other systems,

Is increasingly uncommon and is not used for official purposes in the PRC or on Taiwan,

Although the word sui is still used for describing age.

Traditionally,

Chinese birthdays,

When celebrated,

Were reckoned using the lunar-solar calendar,

Which varies from the Gregorian calendar by as much as a month forward or backward,

Depending on the year.

Celebrating the lunar-solar birthday remains common on Taiwan,

While growing increasingly uncommon on the mainland.

Birthday traditions reflected the culture's deep-seated focus on longevity and wordplay.

From the homophony in some dialects between zhòu,

Rice wine,

And zhòu,

Spelled with an h at the end,

Meaning long in the sense of time passing,

Osmanthus and other rice wines are traditional gifts for birthdays in China.

Longevity noodles are another traditional food consumed on the day,

Although Western-style birthday cakes are increasingly common among urban Chinese.

Hongbaos,

Red envelopes stuffed with money,

Now especially the red 100 RMB notes,

Are the usual gift from relatives and close family friends for most children.

Gifts for adults on their birthdays are much less common,

Although the birthday for each decade is a larger occasion that might prompt a large dinner and celebration.

The Japanese reckoned their birthdays by the Chinese system until the Meiji Reforms.

Celebrations remained uncommon or muted until after the American occupation that followed World War II.

Children's birthday parties are the most important,

Typically celebrated with a cake,

Candles,

And singing.

Adults often just celebrate with their partner.

In North Korea,

The Day of the Sun,

Kim Il-sung's birthday,

Is the most important public holiday of the country,

And Kim Jong-il's birthday is celebrated as the Day of the Shining Star.

North Koreans are not permitted to celebrate birthdays on July 8th and December 17th,

Because these were the dates of the deaths of Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il,

Respectively.

More than 100,

000 North Koreans celebrate displaced birthdays on July 9th and December 18th instead,

To avoid these dates.

A person born on July 8th before 1994 may change their birthday with official recognition.

South Korea was one of the last countries to use a form of East Asian age reckoning for many official purposes.

Prior to June 2023,

Three systems were used together.

Korean ages that start with 1 at birth and increase every January 1st with the Gregorian New Year.

Year ages that start with a zero at birth and otherwise increase the same way.

And actual ages that start with zero at birth and increase each birthday.

First birthday celebrations was heavily celebrated,

Despite usually having little to do with the child's age.

In June 2023,

All Korean ages were set back at least one year,

And official ages henceforth are reckoned only by birthdays.

In Ghana,

Children wake up to their birthday to a special treat called otto,

Which is a patty made from mashed sweet potato and eggs fried in palm oil.

Later they have a birthday party where they usually eat stew and rice,

And a dish known as kelawele,

Which is fried plantain chunks.

Birthdays are fairly evenly distributed throughout the year,

With some seasonal effects.

In the United States,

There tend to be more births than September and October.

This may be because there is a holiday season nine months before,

The human gestation period is about nine months,

Or because the longest nights of the year also occur in the northern hemisphere nine months before.

However,

The holidays affect birth rates more than the winter.

New Zealand,

A southern hemisphere country,

Has the same September and October peak,

With no corresponding peak in March and April.

The least common birthdays tend to fall around public holidays,

Such as Christmas,

New Year's Day,

And fixed date holidays such as July 4th in the U.

S.

Between 1973 and 1999,

September 16th was the most common birthday in the United States,

And December 25th was the least common birthday,

Other than February 29th because of leap years.

In 2011,

October 5th and 6th were reported as the most frequently occurring birthdays.

New Zealand's most common birthday is September 29th,

And the least common birthday is December 25th.

The 10 most common birthdays all fall within a 13-day period between September 22nd and October 4th.

The 10 least common birthdays,

Other than February 29th,

Are December 24th through the 27th,

January 1st and 2nd,

February 6th,

March 22nd,

April 1st,

And April 25th.

This is based on all live births registered in New Zealand between 1980 and 2017.

Positive and negative associations with culturally significant dates may influence birth rates.

The study shows a 5.

3% decrease in spontaneous births and a 16.

9% decrease in cesarean births on Halloween,

Compared to dates occurring within one week before and one week after the October holiday.

In contrast,

On Valentine's Day,

There is a 3.

6% increase in spontaneous births and a 12.

1% increase in cesarean births.

In Sweden,

9.

3% of the population is born in March and 7.

3% in November,

When a uniform distribution would give 8.

3%.

In the Gregorian calendar,

A common solar calendar,

February in a leap year has 29 days instead of the usual 28,

So the year lasts 366 days instead of the usual 365.

A person born on February 29th may be called a leapling or a leaper.

In common years,

They usually celebrate their birthdays on February 28th.

In some situations,

March 1st is used as the birthday in a non-leap year,

Since it is the day following February 28th.

Technically,

A leapling will have fewer birthday anniversaries than their age in years.

This phenomenon is exploited when a person claims to be only a quarter of their actual age by counting their leap year birthday anniversaries only.

In Gilbert and Sullivan's 1879 comic opera,

The Pirates of Penzance,

Frederick,

The pirate apprentice,

Discovers that he is bound to serve the pirates until his 21st birthday,

Rather than until his 21st year.

For legal purposes,

Legal birthdays depend on how local laws count time intervals.

Reviews

Birthday and date of birth, who knew? Or as you read it, birth day I think? 😁😁