Every year a reason to celebrate, from young to old. As a child you should treat at school, you get a crown and they sing for you. Whether there is a home party with a birthday cake, of course, with the same amount of candles as you count years. That, as year before, you need to blow out at once before the cake can be cut. Even if it are trick birthday candles who naturally inflame back. I find a common agreement that you may invite as many friends (or one more, or less) as you get years. So you get every year more presents. And birthday cards.

And as an adult, you can continue to do it within the family. Sometimes a greater or lesser extent in your (sport) club or work.
Also, companies or associations celebrate a birthday, or an anniversary.  Every day 19 million (out of 7 billion) people have their birthday. Jehovah's Witnesses do not celebrate birthdays.

On the Internet you can find information to spice up birthdays:
- historical events, birthdays of famous people, dying days of celebs on the same day.
- or tools to calculate what day of the birth was, how many days there are until / since a counting in days or hours.
- and of course a whole range of horoscopes, biorhythms, poems and wishes.
Also nice is a newspaper of that day, Porto (wine, brandy...) of that year...

A limiting factor to celebrate is usually just the budget. But with some creativity you come a long way. And doing something together with friends makes it even better. Not infrequently, the preparation is more fun than the final implementation. And at every festival belongs course the right music.

The song Happy Birthday (to you) is rarely used because Warner Music Studios claims to have the rights. In September 2015 was in the music library of the University of Louisville (US) found the manuscript dating from 1893. It comes from "Song Stories for kindergarten", a collection of Mildred Hill and his sister Patty, with about thirty songs. Originally it was called "Good morning to all." In 2015, a judge ruled that out that the claim to the rights of the song of Warner / Chappell Music is not justified.

Statistics prove that who celebrates many birthdays also lives long. (Larry Lorenzoni)

"And Max, what did you like most about your 100th birthday?" Max says: "The signs along the road:" Max 100!”

Special birthdays

In some neighborhoods planted in the front yard at a birthday or anniversary with friends, family and / or neighbors with paper ribbons and flowers adorned tree with the applicable precept or poem to pry loose a party or celebration. (Sometimes the whole front yard is adorned (or soiled).)

At 18 you’re adult (and (for some time) reproduction ripe) or age and legal capacity. (For some applications, 21 years). Your parents are no longer responsible or liable to you, and you would be autonomous and independent. Although many still stay (long) at Hotel Mama. Usually, your schooling (approximately) is off.
According to some scientists, our brains today is adult only at the age of 24 , and continues developing to the 40 th year of life (for everyone?).
It is often a reason to get together with friends, schoolmates or other eighteen year olds to give a party.

In some parts of the Netherlands and Belgium is a bachelor of 30 called "ox". Spread neighbors, family or friends, a picture with "First name” is Ox. An attempt to get a treat.
A castrated bull is not so attractive for the average cow and is risking to remain single.
There are more male than female singles at thirty years, also by the age at which people marry is ever falling later (from 1950 to 2001: men from 26 to 31.6 years, women 25.6 to 28.9 years).
In 16/02/1978 in Opglabbeek for the first an (picture of an) ox was placed in a front yard. This usage seems to expand.
Women were sometimes later called cow as 30 year old bachelor.