Happy Birthday To Me!

Don’t know when you are reading this, but Friday, September 5, is my birthday. So Happy Birthday To Me! And here is some birthday trivia you might not know:

August has the most birthdays, followed by July and September. That must be why most of my friends have birthdays in those months, and both my parents did as well.

 February is the month with the fewest birthdays. My daughter has a February birthday.

 Some of the least common birthdays are February 29 (Leap Day – good thing), December 25, and January 1.

The first recorded birthday celebrations were by ancient Egyptians for their pharaohs, who were seen as gods, on their coronation day.

Ancient Greeks would place candles on round cakes to honor the moon goddess, Artemis, creating the tradition of birthday candles.

Blowing out birthday candles is said to have begun in ancient Greece, with the smoke carrying wishes to the gods.

A 2017 study found that blowing out candles increases the bacteria on the cake’s icing by 1,400%, but it is still generally safe to eat.

The first birthday cakes originated in Germany during the Middle Ages in a celebration called Kinderfest; these were more like coarse bread than sweet cakes.

Birthdays and graduations are the most popular occasions for sending greeting cards. I wonder how much sales have dropped for paper greeting cards since online cards and social media greetings became commonplace.

The most common birth date in the United States is October 5, and one of the least common is May 22 (and also February 29). The high rate of October 5 birthdays is likely due to conceptions around New Year’s Eve.

In a group of just 23 people, there is a 50/50 chance that two of them share the same birthday. With 70 people, the chance rises to 99.9%.

If you are celebrating a birthday today, there will only be 31,536,000 seconds until your next one.

The most popular song in the English language is “Happy Birthday to You.” Because it’s copyrighted, the song makes tons of money from licensing fees, but you rarely hear it sung on TV.

Upwards of two billion dollars are spent in the United States on birthday cards every year. Still? I wonder. 

The first birthday balloons were made out of animal intestines filled up with water (enticing, huh?).

The sun will travel 584,337,600 miles from one of your birthdays to the next.

Noisemakers used for birthdays originated in Europe as a way to ward off evil.

The practice of holding birthday parties for children began in Germany in
the 19th century.

In China it is the tradition to eat longevity noodles on one’s birthday.

In he 1960s hospitals started making footprints of newborn babies.

8760 hours pass between one birthday and the next (except Leap Year).

525,600 minutes pass  between one birthday and the next (except Leap Year).

In France you say “bon anniversaire!”  to wish someone a happy birthday.