I was browsing Wikipedia (a great website...www.wikipedia.org) to find out more about birthday traditions and history and these are some tidbits I've come up with:
Birthday celebrations are thought to have originated in Persia by the cult of Mithras. Roman soldiers, who took to Mithraism enthusiastically, spread the idea in Europe (Christianity later supplanted Mithraism as the dominant religion but the birthday celebration already had to large a foothold to do away with).
Birthday cakes have been a tradition dating back as far as the Middle Ages when the English would conceal symbolic items such as gold coins, rings and thimbles inside their cakes. Each item was associated with a prediction. For example, a person finding a gold coin in a birthday cake would supposedly become wealthy where a person discovering a thimble would never marry
If the knife touches the bottom or when withdrawn from the cake comes out dirty the Birthday boy or girl may have to kiss either the nearest boy or girl (Opposite sex).
Not all traditions are equally generous. In certain circles the birthday boy or girl is expected to treat their party guests, this varies depending on the local culture and may involve party gifts or a nice gesture. In some cultures the birthday that means reaching the legal age limit for drinking alcohol may be celebrated with a party with free or abundant alcoholic drinks.
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