Most of us celebrate our birthday with birthday cakes. We probably sing a song, play some fun games, and maybe even open a few presents. Have you ever wondered exactly why we do these things, though?【小题1】

Most scholars point to the Bible as the earliest known reference to a birthday celebration.【小题2】Rather than the day Pharaoh was born, however, the celebration was probably held to remember the day when Pharaoh became the King.

It wasn’t until the time of ancient Rome that birthdays were celebrated for common people.【小题3】Women’s birthdays weren’t celebrated until about the 12th century.

Our modern birthday celebrations with a party and cake didn't come around until the late 18th century in Germany. In fact, Germany is usually considered the birthplace of the modern birthday cake. 【小题4】After the Industrial Revolution, however, cakes were cheaper and more widely available.

If you’re curious about when we started singing “Happy Birthday to You”,that didn’t happen until the 1920s.【小题5】It was a song written in 1893 by two teachers, Patty and Mildred Hill, for children to sing in the mornings. In 1924, Robert Coleman published a songbook in which he included “Good Morning to All” but changed the lyrics (歌词) to what we now know as “Happy Birthday to You”. It’s now considered the most recognizable song in English.