Birthday

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A Rwandan family celebrating a birthday at home in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic

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 birth of their founders or religious figures with special holidays (e.g. Christmas, Mawlid, Buddha's Birthday, Krishna Janmashtami, and Gurpurb).

There is a distinction between birthday and birthdate (also known as date of birth): the former, except for February 29, occurs each year (e.g. January 15), while the latter is the complete date when a person was born (e.g. January 15, 2001).

Coming of age

Cake for an 18th birthday

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 consent to sexual intercourse, 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 licence. 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.

Young women attired for quinceañera in Mexico City

• In Canada and the United States, families often mark a girl's 16th birthday with a "sweet sixteen" celebration – often represented in popular culture.
• In some Hispanic countries, as well as Brazil, the quinceañera (Spanish) or festa de quinze anos (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.

Other landmark birthdays

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

A one-year-old girl playing with her birthday balloons in Bangladesh

• In Korea, many celebrate a traditional ceremony of Baek-il (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 1. Racehorses are reckoned to become one year old in the year following their birth on January 1 in the Northern Hemisphere and August 1 in the Southern Hemisphere.Template:Relevance

Birthday parties

Child with Snow White cake, Template:Circa 1910–1940

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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 Patty 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.

Birthday cake

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} The birthday cake may be decorated with lettering and 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".

• Birthday cakes
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  Birthday cake with name and age
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  Birthday cake with lit candles
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  Candles before lighting
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  A boy blowing out his candle
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  Wikipedia birthday cake

• Birthday customs
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  Cards and gifts
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  Birthday hat on a dog
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  Birthday party for children
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  Chinese birthday banquet for an elder with "Longevity" banner

Birthdays as holidays

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 2. 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 23. This is different from the monarch's date of birth, April 16.

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• Koninginnedag in the Kingdom of the Netherlands was typically celebrated on April 30. 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 27 April, and it is also celebrated on that day. This has replaced the 30th of April celebration of Koninginnedag.
• The previous Japanese Emperor Showa (Hirohito)'s birthday was April 29. After his death, the holiday was kept as "Showa no Hi", or "Showa Day". This holiday falls close to 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 Presidents' 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 11 (Old Style) or February 22 (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 15.

Birthdays of religious figures

Colored lanterns celebrating the Buddha's birthday at the Lotus Lantern Festival in Seoul

Krishna

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Buddha

{{#invoke:Labelled list hatnote|labelledList|Main article|Main articles|Main page|Main pages}} 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 and Christian saints

Jesus Christ's traditional birthday is celebrated as Christmas Eve or Christmas Day around the world, on December 24 or 25, respectively. As some Eastern churches use the Julian calendar, December 25 will fall on January 7 in the Gregorian calendar. These dates are traditional and have no connection with Jesus's actual birthday, which is not recorded in the Gospels.

Preparations for a motorcade procession to celebrate the Nativity of Mary during the Covid-19 pandemic in Baliuag, Philippines

Similarly, the birthdays of the Virgin Mary and John the Baptist are liturgically celebrated on September 8 and June 24, 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 21 and July 7 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 a.k.a. their day of death.

Ganesha

In Hinduism, Ganesh Chaturthi is a festival celebrating the birth of the elephant-headed deity Ganesha in extensive community celebrations and at home. Figurines of Ganesha are made for the holiday and are widely sold.

The Golden Temple during Gurpurb celebrations

Sikh gurus

Sikhs celebrate the anniversary of the birth of Guru Nanak and other Sikh gurus, which is known as Gurpurb.

Muhammad

Celebration of Fatima's birthday and Mother's Day at Al-Zahra Mosque, Tehran

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 ("O Fatima") are displayed on government buildings, private buildings, public streets and car windows.

Religious views

Judaism

In Judaism, rabbis are divided about celebrating this 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 (Genesis 40:20).

Christianity

Christmas wrapping paper next to a birthday balloon for Jesus, displayed in the town of Galashiels, Scottish Borders, in December 2013

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 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.{{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst||date=__DATE__ |$B= Template:Fix{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown={{#switch:

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| main = | other | #default = }}|preview=Page using Template:Citation needed with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| date | name | reason }}}} The "Squire's Tale", one of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, opens as King Cambuskan proclaims a feast to celebrate his birthday.<ref>Margaret Hallissy (1995) A Companion to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales Template:Webarchive, Greenwood Publishing Group {{ISBN