Celebrating birthdays is a very old custom

It's my wife's birthday today. Congratulations, darling wife. Happy birthday to you and many many many happy returns of this day.

That's why I've decided to post something about birthdays.

Read this interesting text.

Ancient people did not know the exact day of their birth, yet measured time by using the moon and the seasons. When calendars were developed, they made it easy for people to celebrate important events like birthdays.

Many of the symbols that we associate with birthdays had their roots hundreds of years ago.

There are a few explanations as to why we have birthday cakes. Some say it is because the Greeks used to take cakes to the temple of the goddess of the moon, Artemis. Another view is that the tradition of the birthday cake started in Germany.

Another symbol that is closely tied to the birthday cake is the custom of putting candles on the cake. The Greek people who took their cakes to Artemis placed candles on the cake because it made the cake look as if it was glowing like the moon. The Germans were known as good candle makers and started to make small candles for their cakes. Some people say that the candles were put on for religious reasons. Some Germans place a big candle in the center of the cake to symbolize the "light of life" . Others believed that the smoke from fires would take their wishes up to heaven. Today many people make silent wishes as they blow out their candles. They believe that blowing out all the candles in one breath will bring good luck.

A gathering or party is usually held so that the birthday person can have their cake and blow out the candles. The very earliest parties were held because people thought that evil spirits would visit them on their birthdays. They stuck close to their friends and family so that the evil spirits would not bother them. Later on parties were gatherings where friends and family members would give gifts or flowers to the person having the birthday. Today lots of birthday parties are for fun. If people cannot visit someone on their birthday they often send them a birthday card or call them or send them a message.The tradition of sending birthday cards was started in England about 100 years ago.

If you are interested in this subject you can read more here (teacher link site) or here (Wikipedia).