Birthday is a day a human being leaves the womb. It marks the beginning of life outside of the womb. It is quite common in most western cultures to celebrate the anniversary of our birthday. Having a birthday party in the company of friends and family is a common example of a birthday celebration. Birthday gifts are usually part of birthday celebrations. Birthday gifts are given to the person celebrating the birthday. It is common practice to treat people especially on their birthday.



It is believed that birthday celebrations date back to ancient Persia. The tradition is known to have spread to the West by Roman soldiers. Prior to the Persian influence birthday celebration is not part of Western civilization. Birthday celebrations were uncommon during medieval times but saw an increase in popularity with the arrival of the Reformation. During this time, birthdays were seen as a excellent way to transfer customs from the saint's days to other dates not linked to the newly repudiated veneration of saints.

Although the celebration of birthdays is wide spread in the West, it is not celebrated everywhere. For example, Jehovah's Witnesses refuse to celebrate birthdays. They consider birthdays celebrations pagan festivals along with Christmas and Easter. Despite that fact the birthdays are celebrated in most Western countries, many adults hate celebrating their birthdays as they serve as reminders of passing time.

Birthdays are usually festive holidays. In most English-speaking countries the song Happy Birthday to You is song in honor of the celebrated person. The Happy Birthday to You song has been translated into many languages around the world. Similar celebratory songs exist in other languages such as "Lang zal hij/zij leven" in Dutch, "Zum Geburstag Viel Glück" in German, "Cumpleaños Feliz" in Spanish, or "Sto lat" in Polish. Friends and family sing the birthday song while someone brings a birthday cake into the room.

The birthday cake is normally highly decorated There are candles lit on top of it. The number of candles represent the age of the person. However, the number of candles usually reduced for adults to reduce the pain. The celebrated person blows out the candles and makes a silent wish. If the celebrated person is able to blow out all of the candles in one blow the wish is supposed to come through. It is also common for the celebrated person to cut the initial piece and to be served the first piece of birthday cake.