Unfortunately, a birthday is only once a year. But this is a great occasion for a holiday — even at home when friends are temporarily available only online. And if at the party the jokes suddenly run out, interesting facts about this tradition will become fuel for new ideas.
1. ORIGIN
The ancient Romans were the first to begin celebrating the birthdays of family members, friends and business partners, arranging revels with gifts and prayers.
2. HOLIDAY AS A METHOD OF ADAPTATION
In the 20th century, birthdays were recognized as important rituals in the life of a child. Celebrating each new date helps him to adapt to the biological and social age changes for each new growth stage.
3. CAKE AND CANDLES: A MYSTERIOUS HISTORY
Where did the birthday cake tradition come from? The opinions of historians differ. The ancient Egyptians used candles during coronations to raise people to the level of the gods with their flame. Later, the ancient Greeks laid candles on honey cakes in the shape of the moon, baked for the goddess Artemis. They believed that smoke lifts prayers and wishes to the heights of Mount Olympus, where the gods lived.
Another hypothesis states that the cake and birthday candles came from the German tradition of placing a candle in the center of bread or cake with the image of the baby Jesus, which symbolized the light of life.
4. EARLY TRADITIONS
In early Christianity, the celebration of a birthday was considered a pagan tradition, but in the Middle Ages people celebrated the days of saints, by whose name they were baptized. Later, this practice passed on to calendar birthdays. A belief appeared, that holidays with guests, good wishes and feasts drive away evil spirits.
5. OLDER IN KOREA
In South Korea a child is considered one year old when he is born. So you are one year older in Korea.
6. THE OPPORTUNITY TO FEEL BETTER
According to a recent study, many, especially women, at birthday feel more loved. Others have shown that most prefer to celebrate this event with friends and other significant people. A little more than half are with a family and only 12% of respondents are alone. At the same time, half of the people would prefer someone else to organize the holiday, and the rest are ready to do it themselves, and 18% do not celebrate birthdays at all.
7. EFFECT OF RELATIVE AGE
The University of British Columbia published interesting results of the study: it turned out that the number of CEOs and top managers of companies born in June and July is much smaller than those born in March and April.
Perhaps the whole thing is the “effect of relative age”. Upon entering school, children born in the spring are older than their classmates born in the summer, and in a better position. They often surpass the rest in physical, emotional and mental development. This can affect their success in adulthood.
8. BIRTHDAY INFLUENCES SPORTS CAREER
This effect is especially noticeable in some sports where older children in a group, team or class are recognized as more talented than their less developed (physically and psychologically) classmates. Older students can get more coaching attention and access to various competitions. This phenomenon is most noticeable in men’s and women’s hockey, men’s tennis and baseball.
9. (NOT) BABY PLEASURE?
Today, the parties are primarily arranged for children, but in past centuries it was mainly the prerogative of adults. Kids began celebrating only in the 19th century, all thanks to the Germans — they even came up with a special term: kinderfeste, “children’s holiday.”
In any case, we were lucky to be born in an era when a birthday is considered a significant holiday because it helps to feel more loved on this day and throughout your life.
