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The Birthday Tradition

• In early human cultures, birthdays were not celebrated precisely because there were no calendars to chart one's age. With the emergence of accurate calendars; however, Egyptian, Chinese, and Roman societies began to recognize the birthdays of royalty and other important figures. Some historians suggest that this is why, even today, the birthday boy will often wear a crown while a birthday girl might wear a princess tiara to celebrate.

  Interested in the history of your particular birth day? Be sure to check out the "This Day Is History" page from the good folks at The History Channel.

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The Birthday Party

• To theatre-goers, The Birthday Party stands as one of Harold Pinter's best plays. To most any kid, the birthday party stands as life's major highlight-that is, until next year. It's interesting to note, however, that the birthday party originated in the middle ages as a means to ward off evil spirits by bringing family and friends together to wish the celebrant well in the coming year. Eventually, these practices gave rise to the birthday wish and birthday presents-traditions that we still observe today.

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The Birthday Cake

• Today, one can hardly imagine a birthday party being complete without a birthday cake. Or, better yet, one of those Dairy Queen ice cream birthday cakes. Mmm...

  But did you know that back in the Middle Ages, the English used to put a variety of symbolic items-gold coins, rings, and thimbles-inside their birthday cakes? Find the coin, and you'd be wealthy. Find the thimble, and you'd never marry. The person who first came up with this tradition? Our guess would be the local dentist.

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The Birthday Song

• "Happy Birthday to You," a.k.a. "The Birthday Song," was written by sisters Mildred & Patti Hill. Little did they know that they would create what the Guinness Book of World Records has called "the most popular song ever." The tune came from a song they had composed in the 1890's, but it was Patti who changed the lyrics and copyrighted the song in 1935. The copyright survives to this day and still generates royalties any time the song is performed on radio or TV.

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The Birthday Card

• The tradition of sending and receiving greeting cards dates as far back as the Egyptians; however, birthday greeting cards first came into existence a little over 100 years ago in England. Today it is estimated that over 2 billion are sent each year. With advent of birthday e-cards and printable birthday cards, sending birthday greetings has never been easier; and yet, belated birthday cards continue to grow in popularity.

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