Birthdays

Hi,
do you know that birthday celebrations started only 210 years ago?
Do you know it was Goethe the first to celebrate his birthday in 1802 with a cake on top of which there were 53 candles?

To tell the truth there are some predecessors: Marco Polo in his book “ IL MILIONE” wrote about the celebration of Kublaj khan’s birthday but he added that it was an eccentric custom, so it was not usual to celebrate one’s birthday.
During the Middle Ages the only anniversary to take into account was the day of death since it was considered the true “dies natalis”, the beginning of the true life.
Then gradually people started to be more and more interested in the dates of their own life and the period between the 19th and 20th century is when all the types of celebrations we know today originated.
The song “Happy Birthday to You” was composed in 1893 by Mildred J. Hill and the words were written by two sisters in Kentucky in 1923.
If you want to know more, read the book “ The Invention of the Birthday” by Jean Claude Schmitt.
 A very nice reading.
By the way,  I’ll celebrate my 18th birthday the day after tomorrow. I'LL TELL YOU ABOUT IT IN MY NEXT POST.