Talk:Birthday/Archive 1

Archive 1

First comment

In some cultures, a newborn is 1 instead of 0? - Omegatron 14:43, Jun 12, 2005 (UTC)

Noteable Birthdays

Holly Whiteside's golden birthday is today April 23rd,2009 and she is the most extraordinary person in the world.

When the most significant digit changes, for example one's 1st, 10th, 20th, 50th, or 100th birthdays.

I believe that 11 would be acceptable too. It marks you becoming a preteenɡ.

~~10/12/07 11:26 pst also ho wabout 16? many american girls have "Sweet 16's" because that is when they get their driver's licenses. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.122.4.103 (talk) 06:27, 13 October 2007 (UTC)

Globally, I doubt that the 11th or 16th birthday is more significant than the 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, 17th, 18th and 19th. The majority of all humans doesn't celebrate "Sweet 16's" and the like. Ran4 (talk) 19:18, 14 February 2009 (UTC)

Opposition to birthdays

Birthdays are an excellent example of trendy non-thinking. A mother spends nine months in discomfort, risks her life through hours of tremendous pain. We congratulate the baby who didn’t make any extraordinary accomplishment on that day. Fifty years latter we are still congratulating them. If you want to make a special person feel really special, through them a party for no reason other than the fact that you and your friends think that they are so special that they deserved a party just to let them know how much everybody loves them. Since no one else gets such parties, you figured that you would be able to get your point across real clear. I have done this and the joy it generated was monumental. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 192.198.147.164 (talk) 02:46, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Samaritans can be included. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.57.60.200 (talk) 06:53, 25 November 2008 (UTC)

Ancient Jew's position on birthdays:

• Encyclopaedia Judaica says: “The celebration of birthdays is unknown in traditional Jewish ritual.”
• Customs and Traditions of Israel observes: “The celebration of birthdays has been borrowed from the practices of other nations, as no mention is made of this custom among Jews either in The Bible, Talmud, or writings of the later Sages. In fact, it was an ancient Egyptian custom.”
• The Imperial Bible-Dictionary comments: “The later Hebrews looked on the celebration of birth-days as a part of idolatrous worship, a view which would be abundantly confirmed by what they saw of the common observances associated with these days.”
• ’Clintock and Strong’s Cyclopædia, adding: “In fact, the later Jews at least regarded birthday celebrations as parts of idolatrous worship. . . , and this probably on account of the idolatrous rites with which they were observed in honor of those who were regarded as the patron gods of the day on which the party was born.”
• Dr. Richard Lenski comments: “The Jews abhorred the keeping of birthdays as being a pagan custom, but the Herods even outdid the Romans in these celebrations, so that ‘Herod’s birthday’ (Herodis dies) came to be a proverbial expression for excessive festival display.” —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.57.60.200 (talk) 01:05, 29 November 2008 (UTC)

The origin of birthday celebrations

Birthday celebrations are actually rooted in paganism. The Encyclopedia Americana (1991 edition) states: �The ancient world of Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Persia celebrated the birthdays of gods, kings, and nobles.� Authors Ralph and Adelin Linton reveal the underlying reason for this. In their book The Lore of Birthdays, they write: �Mesopotamia and Egypt, the cradles of civilization, were also the first lands in which men remembered and honoured their birthdays. The keeping of birthday records was important in ancient times principally because a birth date was essential for the casting of a horoscope.� So, there is a direct connection between the Pagan practice of birthday celebrations and astrology.(horoscopes and fortune telling) Notice what the Bible says about astrology and fortune telling at Isaiah 47:13-15: "�You have grown weary with the multitude of your counselors. Let them stand up, now, and save you, the worshipers of the heavens, the lookers at the stars, those giving out knowledge at the new moons concerning the things that will come upon you. �Look! They have become like stubble. A fire itself will certainly burn them up. They will not deliver their soul from the power of the flame. There will be no glow of charcoals for people to warm themselves, no firelight in front of which to sit down. �Thus they will certainly become to you, with whom you have toiled as your charmers from your youth. They will actually wander, each one to his own region. There will be no one to save you." Not surprisingly then, the ancient Jews didn't celebrate birthdays, regarding them as Pagan. Also, The World Book Encyclopedia states: �The early Christians did not celebrate His [Christ�s] birth because they considered the celebration of anyone�s birth to be a pagan custom.��Volume 3, page 416. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kgray623 (talk • contribs) 18:58, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

Western birthday traditions

The Western birthday traditions might have been taken from a a website unlawfully.

Website to compare:http://www.birthdaycards.com/info/wiki/201.htm —The preceding unsigned comment was added by User:Zoohouse (talk • contribs) .

It is the other way around. Birthdaycards.com has borrowed the text from Wikipedia (which they are allowed to, under the GFDL). If you scroll down to the bottom, you will see that they credit Wikipedia (as they are required to do). Rasmus (talk) 08:40, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

Silver Birthday

• In addition to the "Golden Birthday", has anyone heard of the "Silver Birthday." This occurs when become the age of the transposed date of the month (i.e. turning 60 on August (0)6th) Albert109 06:46, 11 June 2006 (UTC)

Technical issues

I've removed the second paragraph of this section re 9/11 as it's not really relevant to the subject of birthdays. Perhaps it should belong to either the 9/11 page or the International Date Line page. Tirana 00:51, 12 April 2006 (UTC)

child's photo

Is it appropriate to use the photo of a famous Iranian director for this article? - CrazyRussian talk/contribs/email 18:10, 10 May 2006 (UTC)

What about other cultures?

What about other cultures?

koreans have two 'birthdays.' one of em is the same kind like we have. the other kind is something else. i'm not sure what. muslims do not atach any importance to birthdays or anniversaries.

Let me expand on this Koreans are one when they are born and their birthday is on new years eve or new years day, cant rememebr which so if your born on new years eve your essentially 2 at birth, worth mentioning I think because of its uniquness --190.184.50.66 (talk) 03:13, 16 January 2011 (UTC) update: here is a link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korea#Culture_and_arts --190.184.50.66 (talk) 03:16, 16 January 2011 (UTC)

Redundant Sections

In the Korean and Chinese cultures the first year comes at birth and the second year comes on New Year's Day. The reason they are one at birth is because this account for the gestation period in the womb. Jjolena (talk) 22:40, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

Died on their birthdays

Suggestion: Add a category for people who died on their birthdays. The list would include feminist author Betty Friedan and Baseball Hall of Fame catcher Gabby Hartnett, but not, despite the legend, William Shakespeare. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 128.6.205.75 (talk • contribs) 21:14, 29 June 2006 (UTC).

Well, that sounds like a good idea. This could be a new article on famous people who died on their birthdays. But allow me to point out that the key word here is famous. We do not want a situation whereby a non-notable person is included in this article. --Siva1979^{Talk to me} 03:23, 28 August 2006 (UTC)

Question - same digit birthdays

Is there a specific word used to describe same digit birthdays? (11, 22, 33, 44, 55, etc.) —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 142.162.175.251 (talk • contribs) 20:31, 18 July 2006 (UTC).

Not that I know of. Hardee67 18:08, 6 August 2006 (UTC)

Birthstones and Bible

I don't recall ever hearing of this before that birthstones originated with the stones set in Aaron's breastplate or the foundation of New Jerusalem. Can you provide a reference? Mapetite526 20:11, 29 August 2006 (UTC)

This is frankly untrue. The stones on Aharon's Breastplate were pictures of the Tribes of Yisrael, and had absolutely NOTHING to do with birthdays. Birtdays originated from Pagan cultures and practices, and were considered sinful before approx. 300 AD. This needs to be REMOVED from this article IMMEADIATLY, being that it is completely unfounded. Doonak 19:48, 10 June 2007 (UTC)

Birth Date distribution

The trivia section claims that october 5th is the most popular birthday, and sometime in may is the least. It cites an article from the frederickburg times, that sites [1]. This latter site is barely a site. I can't imageine why it was sourced in the news article, and by induction the citation for this section ought to be replaced with something more reputable. Does anyone know where to find census data on this? - Shaggorama 02:41, 2 October 2006 (UTC)

"Christmas birthdays really suck"

Exactly what facts are referenced by this book? It's hard to tell, since it's not used as a footnote. Shinobu 16:17, 20 October 2006 (UTC)

Early Months of Birthdays

Is it true that if you were born in September, October, November, and December, that you are one year younger than some people even though you were born in the same year?

This presumably relates to countries where the academic year starts in September (eg England), so someone born in September 1995 would be in a lower academic year than someone born in August 1995. Pjc51 16:28, 8 July 2007 (UTC)

Thanksgiving Birthday Pattern

New section submitted for inclusion in the Birthday article. Was originally posted to the Thanksgiving article discussion.

Thanksgiving (USA)is a rare holiday that doesn't fall on the same date each year. The date is affected by the fact that it is fixed to the fourth Thursday of November. And leap year causes the date to jump a year. The resulting pattern is a 28 year cycle that goes like this; 11 years, 6 years, 5 years, 6 years then repeats.

If your Birthday falls between 11/22 and 11/28 it will eventually fall on Thanksgiving day. The easiest way to tell if your Birthday is going to fall on Thanksgiving is to look at the first day of November. If the first day of the month is a;
Sun = Thanksgiving is on the 26th,
Mon = 25th,
Tues = 24th,
Wed = 23rd,
Thu = 22nd,
Fri = 28th,
Sat = 27th.

Following is a list of Thanksgiving Birthday's for each possible date;
11/22 -- 2007, 2012, 2018, 2029, 2035;
11/23 -- 2006, 2017, 2023, 2028, 2034;
11/24 -- 2011, 2016, 2022, 2033, 2039;
11/25 -- 2010, 2021, 2027, 2032, 2038;
11/26 -- 2009, 2015, 2020, 2026, 2037;
11/27 -- 2008, 2014, 2025, 2031, 2036;
11/28 -- 2013, 2019, 2024, 2030, 2041
Gregmjr 23:08, 3 February 2007 (UTC) Gregmjr (talk) 15:05, 20 November 2007 (UTC)

Assigned birthday

I'm not sure how best to write (or cite) it, but it would be useful to add something about the fact that certain birthdates are commonly assigned when the actual birthdate is unknown ... January 1, for example, was assigned by the United Nations as the birthday for the Lost Boys of the Sudan due to the difficulty of determining their actual dates of birth, and here in the United States the immigration services have frequently taken this same approach, from what I can find online -- mostly in blogs, hence not citable. Lawikitejana 02:54, 21 August 2007 (UTC)

Photo

Could we possible have a less scary photo for this article? The one we have at the moment look's like it's Satan's birthday party.

Seriously. I'm not kidding!

ChaosSorcerer91 (talk) 15:58, 24 January 2008 (UTC)

I agree. Millions of people have their photos taken for their birthdays. Surely there is a less scary one out there?

172.188.85.45 (talk) 11:01, 15 February 2008 (UTC)

Hahahaha... the pic also scared me. --Howard the Duck 17:12, 19 February 2008 (UTC)

Commented out "External Links" section

I took the liberty of commenting out the "External links" section. As I wrote in my edit summary, I don't really see the point of having an "External links" section for an article on the concept of Birthday. It's not like it's an article on some pop star who has a website we can link to, or some software package, etc. And it was only being used for linkspamming anyway... –W2bh (talk) 21:58, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Wish happy birthday to your loved ones on their birthday for free along with your message and pictures .

I would like to suggest a site constructed only for others which has sole intention to make people enjoy the pleasure of wishing their loved ones on birthday for free.It will be published in it as it is unless otherwise there is any vulgarity as moderators will check it before publishing any article .Also take care of copyright of other and not to use any copyrighted material without official written permission of copyright bearer. As mentioned above this forum is created for the people to make their inner feeling before the whole world use it generously as you use this wikipedia site so as to maintain the dignity of the site.

220.224.115.6 (talk) 10:14, 16 January 2009 (UTC)

Champagne Birthday

"A person's Golden or Grand Birthday, more commonly referred to as the "Star Birthday" occurs when they turn the age of their birth day (i.e. when someone born on the 12th of the month turns 12)." Is what is in the current wiki article (which I for some reason am unable to edit). I a) don't think it's a quantifiable fact that turning the age of your birth date is most commonly referred to as the "Star Birthday" and b) would like to add that this is also referred to as your Champagne Birthday. Possibly worth noting is the fact that I've never heard it called anything but "Champagne Birthday", but that may be deemed unimportant.

Starlabuh (talk) 17:35, 25 February 2008 (EST)

Section needs renaming

As this page is protected I can't do it myself, but the section currently entitled "Birthdays in the legal system" should be renamed to something like "Birthdays in law and culture" - or about half the content (coming of age, golden birthday (incidentally, where's the {{cite}}?), name day, alternative birthdays) should be refactored into a section on "Birthdays in culture". 83.46.60.106 (talk) 22:09, 3 March 2009 (UTC)

Belgium

From The Article: "In Belgium, birthdays are celebrated in festivals over the course of several months."

Please. I live in Belgium and they do birthdays in no way different form other european countrys: cake and a night out on the booze. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.243.103.211 (talk) 18:41, 6 March 2009 (UTC)

Birthiversary

Definition: Anniversary of your birthday

You have ten birthiversaries, one half birthday, and your actual birthday every year.

For example, if your birthday is on January 24th your birthiversary would be celebrated the 24th of each month except for July 24th (which is your half birthday) and Jan. 24th (which is your real birthday).

Have fun with your celebrations!!!

-Don't take credit for this idea because a wicked smart person invented it!!!!

207.180.148.64 (talk) 21:35, 21 April 2009 (UTC)

Anniversary refers to the passage of an entire year, not just a month. 205.175.113.172 (talk) 18:14, 24 April 2009 (UTC)

Maybe to boring people but fun couples will celebrate their 2-month anniversary etc. so maybe in the dictionary it refers to the year but this isn't referring to a normal anniversary. 209.6.212.121 (talk) 02:06, 29 April 2009 (UTC)

Opposition/Christianity

I removed text from that section which was not pertinent and used non-encyclopedic language. 68.108.42.166 (talk) 10:02, 28 June 2009 (UTC)

When were Birthdays celebrated? First time in Civilized history?

Whene where Birthdfays first celebrated? In Sunerian,Ancient times or???BUNKIA (talk) 20:24, 27 January 2010 (UTC)

I really don't think that anybody knows the origins of birthdays. Maybe they just came about? It surely wasn't ancient times, you don't open up a textbook and read about Caligula's 17th birthday, do you? There is no reason to need this in the article.

CaradocTheKing (talk) 01:29, 27 May 2010 (UTC)

Its my birthday today and i want $1 million please. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.100.149.36 (talk) 16:16, 26 April 2011 (UTC)

History

Would it be possible to have an entry on the history of birthdays? What did people do a few hundred years ago? Thanks. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.102.144.126 (talk) 20:43, 1 January 2013 (UTC)

"Platinum birthday"

• Is there any special platinum birthday for when your month and day match your age? Example: Born March 2 (3-2-19xx) and turning 32! Or if you were using the European format it would be 2-3-19xx and turning 23! User:216.21.44.145 (question moved here from article Ianb 23:04, 2 March 2006 (UTC))

Oh dear, my birthday is today... Remind me when I reach 310!!! -- Gurch 23:36, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

Unfortunately, most individuals would never live to see this day (that's why it's so special). Sorry if you were born after the 9th of any month or born in a month after September.

I have a question...Is there a special name for the birthday when your age matches the year you were born? Such as turning 53 and were born in '53. 18:24, 10 March 2013 (UTC)

Least common birthday

Although the reference I checked does say that May 22 is the least common birthday, wouldn't you think it would be February 29th? People have a 1 in 1461 chance of being born on that day, as opposed to May 22 which is 1 in 365 or 366. I guess the odds don't make a difference with the known facts. -User:Kip the Dip 18:24, 10 March 2013 (UTC)

Candle for good luck?

In my family, we always put one extra candle on the cake for "good luck." It is usually either a different size or different color that the others (this year we used a sparkler). Is this normal, and should it be added to the article? 18:24, 10 March 2013 (UTC)

question!!

If people that are anti-abortion and beleive that the second the egg and sperm come together and it living, then why don't the celebrate the birthday the day it is conceved

Essentially because "birth"day is the date of birth, not the date of conception, even if it is living after conception. Albert109 20:51, 19 June 2006 (UTC)

also because often the date of conception isn't known. 18:24, 10 March 2013 (UTC)

birthday / calendar concern [cultural norms?] -- re: george washington

i am not sure where to add something i learned today...

where it says: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birthday#Official.2FAlternative_birthdays_and_name_day

it makes a reference to notables having a birthDATE different than the one that is "official" (aka popularized?)

now, i have copied and pasted some information from: http://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/washington/

"George Washington's Birthday is celebrated as a federal holiday on the third Monday in February. It is one of eleven permanent holidays established by Congress." ....... "George Washington was born in Virginia on February 11, 1731, according to the then-used Julian calendar. In 1752, however, Britain and all its colonies adopted the Gregorian calendar, which moved the calendar ahead 11 days and made January the first month of the year instead of March. The new calendar placed Washington's birth on February 22, 1732."

the wiki page does make mention "While it is uncommon to have an official holiday for a republican head of state's birthday, this can become a permanent posthumous honour, especially in the case of a so-called father of the fatherland, e.g. George Washington (best known as Presidents' Day, which sounds like the incumbent's party; also celebrated in the US is Lincoln's Birthday) "

but it does not talk about the gregorian/ julian calendar stipulation ... so this is a lot of information i have found and i know it does tie into this page factually, but i do have issues with staying connected in my points so i don't quite know how to include it?

HELP?

see also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_washington <-- also no mention of the julian/gregorian calendar change and how it affects the date of washington's birthday as we know it... 18:24, 10 March 2013 (UTC)

Why Jehovah's Witnesses don't celebrate birthdays...

Stated is, that Jehovah's don't celebrate their birthday because they consider it to be pagan. However, I remember hearing from a Jehovah's witness that it is due to the fact that no other than Jehovah should be worshiped.

how silly. birthday's aren't about worship.

Answer 1:Actually, as a Jehovah's Witness, the birthday celebration has ties to pagan gods. Since we do not celebrate other holidays that have pagan ties (ie Easter and Halloween), why celebrate this one? If I knowingly celebrate a holiday dedicated to a pagan God, how would God view that? I don't think he would be thrilled. Better to be safe than sorry. Besides, why is it such a big deal, there are many other milestones to celebrate. Shouldn't your mother get the thanks for giving birth. You didn't do any of the work. The accomplishments of your life are what matter.

Also, I corrected the Section to reflect the Proper spelling of Jehovah's name. I did not correct the previous statement and numerous misspellings. 167.207.128.101 18:41, 14 November 2006 (UTC) Raerah

Answer 2: While Jehovah's Witnesses do not celebrate birthdays primarily because of the Pagan connection, there are also indications in the bible and secular history which preclude celebrations of this nature. First, the bible itself lists only two birthday celebrations. The first is at Genesis 40:20 at this celebration, Pharaoh beheaded his baker. The other is located at Matthew 14:6-10, where Herod promised Herodias that since her dance pleased him so much, she could have whatever she asked for. Unfortunately, she asked for the head of John the baptist. Notably, bible historians indicate that it was not a custom for first century Christians to celebrate their birthdays. Also, as is listed in the text on the origins of the celebration of birthdays, it has a pagan origin.

Explained brilliantly! Why does the article state Jehovahs Witnesses "consider" it pagan!? Surely the proof that it is pagan is incontrovertible? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Camaeron (talk • contribs) 20:01, 2 October 2007 (UTC)

I think these responses should be merged with the article. Any short way to do so? --inky 04:11, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

Not without sources. --Steven Fisher 04:47, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

Regarding camaeron's 2007 comment a couple lines up: I'm not sure proof of the celebration's origins are incontrovertible, given its ancient timeframe. If there is solid proof, it could be reworded as a fact, citing a reliable source. But also note that whatever the celebration's origins, the sentence implying that's the rationale for Jehovah's Witnesses non-celebration is dubious; I've seen competing reasons: pagan origins, birthday celebrations not mentioned in the bible, birthdays themselves only mentioned negatively in the bible, and that it unduly celebrates the individual. To clarify the distinction about biblical mention from paganism, JHs have funeral ceremonies, which are of pagan origin, but are also mentioned in the bible. -Agyle 22:23, 2 October 2007 (UTC)

Answer 3 Have Jehovah’s witnesses a real basis to forbid birthday parties to their members?

1. Can we find any statement in the bible that birthday parties are forbidden? There is not one verse.

2. Have birthday parties pagan elements or origins? There are more pagan elements in wedding parties than in birthday parties. The origin doesn’t seem to be well known. Nearly 4000 years ago the pharaoh celebrated his birthday in Egypt, according to Genesis Chapter 40. On this day the baker was beheaded and the cupbearer found mercy and he got back his old job. This should show for Jehovah’s witnesses that birthday parties are bad because the baker was executed - or sentenced to death. The question is: was this punishment an injustice? We do not know what the bakers crime was. The bible does not tell it. May be he did a very bad thing for instance he could add poison into the bread so that some people die. If we do not know the reason for the bakers death we cannot say that his death was unjust. So read the bible story about this pharaoh. He was a righteous ruler. He was very wise because he acted according to the message from God and according to the advices of Joseph. By trusting in God he rescued people from starving. He also showed his love to Joseph and his family by giving them Goshen, a very nice land for them and their sheep. So this pharaoh hardly did any unfairness to the baker.

3. Another person celebrating his birthday was Herod Antipas. According to Matthew 14:6-10 John the Baptist was executed on this day. But the reason for this crime was not the birthday celebration, the reason was the hate of Herod’s wife Herodias.

4. It seems that Christians in the first centuries a.d. avoid birthday celebrations of rulers and kings. But the reason can be that they wanted to stay away from national feasts and to conserve their neutrality.

As a result we can say that there may be arguments for Jehovah’s witnesses to avoid birthdays of political persons. But there are no logical reasons to forbid birthday celebrations of children, with friends and relatives.

Early Christians did not celebrate Jesus' birthday! Celebrating birthdays is rooted in superstition and false religion, but that is not the sole or prime reason why Jehovah’s Witnesses avoid the practice. Basically, it is because they respect the Word of God and are keenly interested in responding to its indications. The notion of a birthday festival was far from the ideas of the Christians of this period in general.”—The History of the Christian Religion and Church During the First Three Centuries, by Augustus Neander. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.57.60.200 (talk) 06:56, 25 November 2008 (UTC)

What is the origin of birthday celebrations? Birthday celebrations are actually rooted in paganism. The Encyclopedia Americana (1991 edition) states: �The ancient world of Egypt, Greece, Rome, and Persia celebrated the birthdays of gods, kings, and nobles.� Authors Ralph and Adelin Linton reveal the underlying reason for this. In their book The Lore of Birthdays, they write: �Mesopotamia and Egypt, the cradles of civilization, were also the first lands in which men remembered and honoured their birthdays. The keeping of birthday records was important in ancient times principally because a birth date was essential for the casting of a horoscope.� So, there is a direct connection between the Pagan practice of birthday celebrations and astrology.(horoscopes and fortune telling) Notice what the Bible says about astrology and fortune telling at Isaiah 47:13-15: "�You have grown weary with the multitude of your counselors. Let them stand up, now, and save you, the worshipers of the heavens, the lookers at the stars, those giving out knowledge at the new moons concerning the things that will come upon you. �Look! They have become like stubble. A fire itself will certainly burn them up. They will not deliver their soul from the power of the flame. There will be no glow of charcoals for people to warm themselves, no firelight in front of which to sit down. �Thus they will certainly become to you, with whom you have toiled as your charmers from your youth. They will actually wander, each one to his own region. There will be no one to save you." Not surprisingly then, the ancient Jews did nt celebrate birthdays, regarding them as Pagan. Also, The World Book Encyclopedia states: �The early Christians did not celebrate His [Christ�s] birth because they considered the celebration of anyone�s birth to be a pagan custom.��Volume 3, page 416. 18:24, 10 March 2013 (UTC)

"Birthstones" deserves a seperate article

I looked at the web and found various lists for birthstones on the following websites: http://www.ags.org/consumers/Gift_Guide/birthstones.asp http://www.gemstone.org/gem-o-rama/gem-o-rama_birth.html The latter website also presents lists for Modern birthstones, Zodiac birthstones, and Traditional birthstones of different cultures (Hebrew, Hindu, Roman, Arabic, Polish, Russian to list a few) based on the exact birthdate (month and day). 18:24, 10 March 2013 (UTC)

Significant Digits

When the most significant digit changes, for example one's 1st, 10th, 15th, 30th, 50th, or 100th birthdays,

The 15th does not represent a change in the most significant digit. Furthermore, the term 'most significant digit' seems overly technical for the topic here. Why not just 'round numbers'? 18:24, 10 March 2013 (UTC)

portuguese

in portuguese the song is parabens a voce (portugal) and parabens pra voce in brasil 18:24, 10 March 2013 (UTC)

Red Egg Party?

Should there be a section in here about the Chinese tradition of the Red Egg and Ginger Party? Seems to be a part of the idea of birth parties, maybe not birthday parties... 18:24, 10 March 2013 (UTC)

Birthdate

I heard in Korea that children were one year old on the date of their birth. Is that correct? If so, are there any other cultures that do the same? Rtrsr (talk) 14:36, 6 October 2013 (UTC)

Removing dubious "traditional" definition & "contemporary" misuse

I'm removing most of the opening paragraph, with no replacement. It's factually questionable, and a November 2012 request for citation has gone unfulfilled for more than a year. The text's premise that birthdays and their celebrations traditionally cease upon a person's death is contradicted by a google news search of "lincoln's birthday" from 1880-1920, for example, which returns dozens of articles referring to current celebrations of his birthday, decades after his death (example 1, example 2). The text being removed is:

The celebration of a birthday usually is thought to mark how old a person is, traditionally stopping when death occurs and only stating that if still alive, they would have been (number of years) old. Some contemporary writers ignore this aspect, however, and keep counting the years since the date of birth of famous people, such as proclaiming that it is Shakespeare's "four hundredth birthday" (although he died at the age of fifty-two) instead of noting that it is the four hundredth anniversary of his birth.

Agyle (talk) 11:27, 8 December 2013 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 29 July 2015

Please remove, "An occasional activity is spanking the birthday individual, with one gentle "swat" for each year since birth" because it is inaccurate and has no citation. 50.129.230.13 (talk) 03:14, 29 July 2015 (UTC)

Done Cannolis (talk) 12:27, 29 July 2015 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 19 October 2016

Chanya Cozzens is the official Birthday Queen. She makes all Birthday's special by celebrating all persons that surround her with thoughtful and caring treatment. All hail the Birthday Queen.

Captainchanya (talk) 19:38, 19 October 2016 (UTC)

Not done: PoV. - Arjayay (talk) 09:02, 20 October 2016 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 19 October 2016

On the picture of the girl with the Snow White cake, it is circa 1937-1940 because Snow White and The Seven Dwarves came out in 1937.

2602:30A:2CEE:730:CCAA:3245:6097:808 (talk) 20:39, 19 October 2016 (UTC)

 Not done - Snow White was published in 1812 - Arjayay (talk) 09:06, 20 October 2016 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 19 October 2016

Please change the caption, "Little girl with a Snow White cake, circa 1910 to 1940" to "Little girl with a Snow white cake, circa 1937 to 1940" because Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, the Disney movie, came out in 1937. 2602:30A:2CEE:730:CCAA:3245:6097:808 (talk) 20:47, 19 October 2016 (UTC)

 Not done - Snow White was published in 1812 - Arjayay (talk) 09:07, 20 October 2016 (UTC)

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ali

Semi-protected edit request on 16 February 2017

SEE ALSO - ITS Sammy's Birthday

98.173.177.11 (talk) 16:16, 16 February 2017 (UTC)

Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format. DRAGON BOOSTER ★ 16:28, 16 February 2017 (UTC)

Cultural Conventions Issue

I'm moderately confused at the India bullet. I can't make heads or tails of it.

• In India child's first birthday, his or her head is shaved while being held by a special fire. Removal of the hair cleanses the child of any evil in past lives, symbolizing a renewal of the soul.

The first part of the first sentence is odd, and "while being held by a special fire." just seems weird, too. I'm not sure if I'm reading this wrong or what, but I can't seem to find a way to edit this as to keep it factually accurate without knowing the context of the ritual... Smortypi (talk) 15:03, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Britain

Do people still celebrate a 21st birthday in Britain, or is the 18th birthday now celebrated instead? Rwood128 (talk) 13:30, 1 December 2016 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 10 April 2017

Providing sources for 2 of the 3 citations needed. The first citation needed is under the subtitle "cultural conventions" and concerns Ghana. There appears to be a source that can be cited here: http://www.birthdaycelebrations.net/ghanianbirthdays.htm

The 2nd citation needed pertains to a "person's golden or grand birthday", in the 3rd to last paragraph in the same section above (cultural conventions). There appears to be a source for this here (bottom of the page, 2nd to last paragraph): http://best-birthday-wishes.com/

I was unable to find a source for the third and final "citation needed". NibblesMcJ (talk) 10:19, 10 April 2017 (UTC)

Not done: Thanks very much for hunting down sources. Unfortunately, these do not appear to meet Wikipedia standards for reliability. If you read the guideline on reliable sources, you'll get a better idea of what we're looking for. Rivertorch^FIRE_WATER 18:15, 10 April 2017 (UTC)

Original research or misquote ?

The page reads: "Origen in his commentary "On Levites" writes that Christians should not only refrain from celebrating their birthdays, but should look on them with disgust.[25]"

This is a misleading quote.

The text is actually Homily 8 on Leviticus. https://books.google.com/books?id=Eo9Da7xaBuUC&pg=PA29&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=3#v=onepage&q=birthday&f=false (The Fathers of the Church, volume 83)

"Origen: Homily 8 (Homilies On Leviticus 1-16): "(2)But Scripture also declares that one himself who is born whether male or female is not "clean from filth although his life is of one day." 16 And that you may know that there is something great in this and such that it has not come from the thought of any of the saints; not one from all the saints is found to have celebrated a festive day or a great feast on the day of his birth. No one is found to have had a joy on the day of the birth of his son or daughter. Only sinners rejoice over this kind of birthday. For indeed we find in the Old Testament, Pharaoh, king of Egypt, celebrating the day of his birth with a festival, 17 and in the New Testament, Herod. 18 However both of them stained the festival of his birth by shedding human blood. For the Pharaoh killed "the chief baker,"19 Herod, the holy prophet John "in prison."20 But the saints not only do not celebrate a festival of their birth days, but, filled with the Holy Spirit, they curse that day. (3) For also such a great prophet--I mean Jeremiah who "in the womb" of his mother "was sanctified" and "was consecrated a prophet for the nations"21-- would not have composed something useless in the books destined to be eternal he could preserve some secret, full of profound mysteries, where he says, "Cursed be the day in which I was born, and the night in which they said, behold a male child. Cursed be he who announced to my father, saying, "A male child was born to you.' Let that person rejoice as the cities which the Lord destroyed in anger and did not repent it."22 Does it appear to you that the prophet could have invoked such severe and oppressive things unless he knew there was something in this bodily birth that would seem worthy of such curses and for which the Lawgiver would blame so many impurities for which he subsequently would impose suitable purifications? But it would be lengthy and better suited to another time to explain the testimony which we have taken from the prophet because now our purpose is to examine the reading of Leviticus, not of Jeremiah. (4) But Job also, who did not speak without the Holy Spirit, "was cursing the day of his birth, saying, 'Cursed be the day in which I was born and the night in which they said behold a male child. Let that night be darkness and may the Lord not seek it again nor let it come in the days of the year nor let it be numbered in the days of the months.' " 23 But if you do not believe that Job spoke these things by the divine and prophetic Spirit, consider this which follows. For he adds, "But let him curse it who cursed that day on which he would kill the great sea monster."24 Therefore, you see how in the Holy Spirit he predicted about, "the great sea monster" which the Lord "would destroy," whose types was that "sea monster" of Jonah. Whence the Lord, who "was about to destroy the sea monster," this devil, says, For just as Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights, so must the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth."25 (5) But if it pleases you to hear what other saints might also think about this birthday, hear David speaking, "In iniquity I was conceived and in sins my mother brought me forth," 26 showing that every soul which is born in flesh is polluted by the filth "of iniquity and sin"; and for this reason we can say what we have already recalled above, "No one is pure from uncleanness even if his life is only one day long." To these things can be added the reason why it is required, since the baptism of the Church is given for the forgiveness of sins, that, according to the observance of the Church, that baptism also be given to infants; since, certainly, if there were nothing in infants that ought to pertain to forgiveness and indulgence, then the grace of baptism would appear superfluous. 28 "

(The Fathers of the Church, Origen: Homilies on Leviticus, Translated from Latin by Gary Wayne Barkley, pp. 156-158; Catholic University of America Press, Washington, DC 1990. Origen of Alexandria d. c.253 CE). — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2604:2D80:5205:A800:2C60:3DF6:F238:75B6 (talk) 22:47, 11 January 2020 (UTC)

Unsourced speculation

"This is probably due to hospitals and birthing centres not offering labor inductions and elective Caesarean sections on public holidays."

This is speculation, and no source/evidence has been given, so I'm removing it. Furthermore, I can't see this as possibly being the reason. Surely this would mean that there is likely to be a surge in births a few days away from the public holidays. I would expect a far more likely reason to be couples deliberately avoiding such dates so as not to have the child's birthday and Christmas (for instance) celebrated at the same time. — Smjg (talk) 13:18, 1 February 2020 (UTC)

Golden birthday

The sentence about golden birthdays in the "Cultural Conventions" is sourced to everything2.com. That site is a wiki, and one that deliberately portrays itself as less stringent than wikipedia, so the link needs to be removed (someone might want to run a search and see if it's used anywhere else on wikipedia). To be honest, I'd argue that the whole sentence should be removed, as I don't think this is a significant tradition followed by many people, seeming to have been created within the past 50 years. The only online references I can find are to blogs and shopping sites--not even news sites talking about it as a cultural creation or meme. 218.227.47.132 (talk) 23:38, 2 February 2020 (UTC)

 Removed. As far as everything2 goes, Special:LinkSearch returns lots of results. I'm not sure what the best way to go about dealing with this, but I'll look into it a bit more; thanks for bringing this up. –Deacon Vorbis (carbon • videos) 00:56, 3 February 2020 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 14 February 2021

Reference number 9: anybirthday.com is linked to the word "October" on reference #9. This site is just a link farm and serves no purpose on this wiki page. 198.72.231.215 (talk) 06:55, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

 Done. Volteer1 (talk) 12:17, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

Thanks for the note, 198 ... but @Volteer1:, there's a little more to the story than that; the link used to be valid but was later taken over; I've put back the correct link with the parameter "url-status=unfit" so the link no longer goes to the new link-farm version of the site. Per WikiBlame, it was added in October 2009 by Dandv. Curiously a link to the anybirthday.com site was previously on the birthday page before being removed in August 2007; this was mentioned on a blog post by the Jeopardy! contestant Ken Jennings. Graham87 16:48, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

@Graham87: oh, my bad, I probably should've investigated further. Thanks for letting me know about WikiBlame though. Volteer1 (talk) 22:31, 14 February 2021 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 23 March 2021

Vikashsharmavikash (talk) 18:33, 23 March 2021 (UTC)

Dead link remove and paste it

Removed spam link and closing request. ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 18:44, 23 March 2021 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 23 April 2021

Reference number 3: hinduyuva.org (2006) is dead link. Original content is available in here: --Rogerherman (talk) 06:44, 23 April 2021 (UTC)

 Done ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 11:06, 23 April 2021 (UTC)

References

29 Feb

Isn't 29 February the least common birthday? --GoatGamer1 (talk) 10:38, 7 January 2022 (UTC)

Yes, the article already says this. Graham87 14:24, 7 January 2022 (UTC)

Semi-protected edit request on 30 March 2022

Hi, could I make a change to the page? The religion in question is Judaism. I have already made a similar change not long ago, on the page in Italian and I would like to do the same on the one in English, if possible. If you are not satisfied with the change, no problem, I will not make new interventions. Thank you very much.

 Not done: it's not clear what changes you want to be made. Please mention the specific changes in a "change X to Y" format and provide a reliable source if appropriate. ScottishFinnishRadish (talk) 18:10, 30 March 2022 (UTC)

The source is already there, after the "faithful." I report the initial part of the text: "In Judaism, the perspective on birthday celebrations is disputed by various rabbis, although today it is accepted practice by most of the faithful.[30]" I made this change a long time ago, and in fact it has remained so for years, but I would like to refine it as in the Italian language page. Without making it too long, based also on the source, I would like to make the following change: "In Judaism, rabbis are divided about celebrating this custom, although it was accepted by the majority of the faithful." If you are ok with it, if not, it's ok, and a warm greeting. As you noted we are far from a potential vandalism, indeed, in the Jewish religion the perception of birthdays is exactly so: the link says so, not yours truly. A cordial greeting. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Andreoto (talk • contribs) 15:00, 31 March 2022 (UTC)

Presidents Day celebrates Lincoln and Washington's birthday!

Presidents Day celebrates Lincoln and Washington's birthday not just Washington. We used to celebrate both as two seperate Hollidays but they were like a week apart and the government didn't want to keep giving people 2 days off in the already short month of February and combined the two into Presidents Day sometime in the 1980's or 90's. 24.102.170.177 (talk) 10:48, 26 August 2022 (UTC)

It varies by state. See the opening of the Presidents' Day article. Graham87 17:00, 26 August 2022 (UTC)

Birthday record-keeping

It seems to me that many cultures in the past did not keep track of birthdays. Cultures that lacked written languages would have perhaps recorded (in memory) the season of a person's birth, or its relation to a natural disaster, etc., but not an exact year. Even today, there are many older people in 3rd-world countries who do not know exactly how old they are.

I don't have any sources to support my claims. Some research should be done on this, and the article should be a little less Western-culturally biased, IMHO. Perhaps someone will be inspired to improve the article by reading my comments. Most likely, no-one will. 46.24.26.231 (talk) 01:47, 10 October 2022 (UTC)

Heh

>least common birthday... December 25...

>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 Caesarean births on Halloween

The 'positive and negative associations' of the 'culturally significant dates' being that the hospital staff is busy elsewhere and would prefer to handle it a few days on either side? Either some aspects are being passed over too quickly or these were simply poor studies to begin with. — LlywelynII 19:06, 5 March 2023 (UTC)