174 Fun Facts About Happy Birthday

The tune of 'Happy Birthday to You' was originally published in 1893 as a classroom song called what?

Good Morning to All was written by kindergarten teachers Patty and Mildred Hill and published in their 1893 collection Song Stories for the Kindergarten; the birthday lyrics were attached to the tune later.

Per Guinness (1998), which song is the second most recognised in English after 'Happy Birthday to You'?

Guinness World Records 1998 ranked 'For He's a Jolly Good Fellow' second behind 'Happy Birthday to You', with 'Auld Lang Syne' third among the most recognised English-language songs.

Which publisher refunded $14 million in 2016 after its copyright claim on 'Happy Birthday to You' was voided?

Warner/Chappell agreed in 2016 to refund about $14 million to licensees after a 2015 federal ruling found its 1935 registration covered only a piano arrangement, not the words and melody.

In the European Union, the copyright on 'Happy Birthday to You' expired on the first day of which year?

The EU term runs 70 years after the author's death; Patty Hill, the last surviving Hill sister, died in 1946, so protection ended on 1 January 2017.

Marilyn Monroe famously sang 'Happy Birthday' to President Kennedy in May 1962 at a gala held where?

Monroe sang at a Democratic fundraising gala at Madison Square Garden on 19 May 1962, ten days before Kennedy's 45th birthday; he quipped that he could retire from politics after being sung to so sweetly.

How many rhinestones were sewn into the sheer dress Marilyn Monroe wore to sing to JFK?

Jean Louis's sheer, flesh-coloured dress carried about 2,500 rhinestones; Monroe was sewn into it, and it sold for $4.8 million in 2016 before Kim Kardashian wore it to the 2022 Met Gala.

Which Canadian billionaire bought Marilyn Monroe's 'Happy Birthday' dress for $4.8 million in 2016?

Jim Pattison's company, owner of Ripley's Believe It or Not!, paid $4.8 million at Julien's Auctions in 2016; the dress had fetched $1.26 million at Christie's in 1999, then a record for a dress.

Stevie Wonder released 'Happy Birthday' in 1981 to campaign for a national holiday honouring whom?

Stevie Wonder's 'Happy Birthday', from the album Hotter than July, pushed for a Martin Luther King holiday; Reagan signed it into law in November 1983 and it was first observed in 1986.

The Beatles' song 'Birthday' opens the third side of which 1968 double LP?

'Birthday' opens side three of The Beatles (the White Album), released November 1968; mostly McCartney's, it was written and recorded on 18 September 1968, and he played it at Ringo's 70th at Radio City.

'In da Club', the rap track that made 'Go shorty, it's your birthday' a party staple, came from whose 2003 debut album?

It comes from 50 Cent's 2003 debut album Get Rich or Die Tryin'; produced by Dr. Dre and Mike Elizondo, it became his first Billboard number one and won Best Rap Video at the 2003 VMAs.

The birthday cake with one candle per year of age is generally traced to 18th-century celebrations where?

Germany is the usual answer: at Count Ludwig von Zinzendorf's 1746 party at Marienborn the cake was 'as large as any oven could be found to bake it', with a candle in each hole and one in the middle.

One theory says ancient Greeks lit candles on cakes to honour which goddess's birth each lunar month?

Artemis, goddess of the moon and the hunt, was honoured with round honey cakes lit with candles to glow like the moon, her symbol; the Romans also occasionally served cakes at special birthdays.

In Vietnamese tradition, everyone adds a year to their age on which holiday?

Tết, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, is the traditional shared birthday: everyone turns a year older together and elders hand children lucky money in red envelopes (lì xì); individual birthday parties are a later Western import.

How many people need to be in a room for there to be a better than 50% chance that two share a birthday?

It feels wrong because you are not comparing everyone to you, but every pair to each other: 23 people make 253 pairs.

Someone born on 29 February is commonly nicknamed a what?

A leapling (or leaper) celebrates on 28 February or 1 March in ordinary years; someone born on 29 February 2000 had only six true birthday anniversaries by 2024.

Which Texas town declared itself the 'leap year capital of the world' in 1988?

Anthony, which straddles the Texas–New Mexico line, took the title in 1988 at the urging of two residents born on 29 February, and holds a multi-day leap year festival every four years.

Which saint, per Irish legend, got St Patrick to let women propose on 29 February?

St Brigid, in the legend, complained that women waited too long for proposals; Patrick offered one day every seven years, she bargained him down to every four, and a man who refused owed gloves or a silk gown.

Between 1973 and 1999, which date was the most common birthday in the United States?

Harvard economist Amitabh Chandra's tally of US births from 1973 to 1999 put 16 September first, with most of the top ten in mid-September, about nine months after the Christmas holidays.

What is Korea's traditional first-birthday celebration, where a baby picks an object, called?

Doljanchi marks the first birthday (dol) with the doljabi, where the baby's pick foretells its future: thread or noodles for long life, money for wealth, a brush or book for scholarship; Baek-il is the earlier 100-day feast.

Koreans traditionally eat miyeok-guk, a seaweed soup, on the day they were born, to honour whom?

New mothers eat the same soup for months after childbirth, so eating it on your birthday thanks her for having you.

Which dish is traditionally served at a Chinese birthday meal?

Longevity noodles (changshou mian) are served uncut at Chinese birthdays, the single long strand standing for a long life; dumplings belong to New Year and mooncakes to the Mid-Autumn Festival.

In Mexico, what is the birthday custom of pushing the celebrant's face into the cake called?

La mordida ('the bite') has guests chant 'mordida!' while the birthday person takes the first bite of the cake hands-free and is usually shoved face-first into the frosting.

Fairy bread, an Australian and New Zealand party staple, is buttered white bread covered in what?

Hundreds and thousands (nonpareil sprinkles) are shaken onto buttered white bread cut into triangles; the name was first recorded in the Hobart Mercury in April 1929, describing a children's party.

What are the points of a traditional star-shaped Mexican piñata said to represent?

The seven points stand for the seven deadly sins, the decorated pot for evil and the sweets inside for temptation; Spanish friars used the game for catechism in 16th-century Mexico.

Which annual London ceremony marks the British sovereign's official birthday?

Trooping the Colour has marked the official birthday since 1748; Edward VII, born in November, kept the parade in early summer for the sake of the weather.

The British sovereign's official birthday was first marked in 1748 for which monarch?

Since 1959 the UK observance has been fixed on a Saturday in early June, chosen for the odds of decent weather.

Why did Queen Beatrix keep the Dutch national holiday on Queen Juliana's date, 30 April, rather than her own?

Beatrix was born on 31 January; the holiday moved again to 27 April when her son Willem-Alexander became king in 2013.

The North Korean holiday named the Day of the Sun in 1997 celebrates whose birthday?

Kim Il Sung was born on 15 April 1912, the day the Titanic sank; his birthday became the Day of the Sun in 1997, while son Kim Jong Il's 16 February is the Day of the Shining Star.

Since 1971 the US federal holiday for Washington's Birthday has been observed on which day?

The Uniform Monday Holiday Act created the three-day weekend, which means the holiday can never actually fall on the 22nd.

In the Torah, the only birthday celebration mentioned is that of whom?

Genesis 40:20 describes Pharaoh's birthday feast, at which he restored his chief cupbearer and hanged his chief baker; Herod's feast in the Gospels is the only other biblical birthday party.

Which ancient people, per Herodotus, prized birthdays above all days, the rich roasting a whole ox or camel?

Herodotus (Histories 1.133) says the Persians honoured their birthday above every other day, the wealthy serving an ox, horse, camel or ass roasted whole and the poor a smaller animal.

A royal birthday card arrives at 100, then every year from which birthday onward?

Cards go out for the 100th and 105th birthdays and every year after 105; the Anniversaries Office at Buckingham Palace handles applications and also sends cards for 60th wedding anniversaries.

The 1912 list that standardised modern birthstones was adopted at a jewellers' meeting held where?

The American National Association of Jewelers adopted the list at its 1912 convention in Kansas City, Missouri; tanzanite was added for December in 2002 and spinel for August in 2016.

Shakespeare's birthday is observed on 23 April, also the feast day of which saint?

23 April is St George's Day, the feast of England's patron saint; Shakespeare's exact birth date is unknown, but he was baptised on 26 April 1564 and died on 23 April 1616.

Which Swedish film star died on her 67th birthday, 29 August 1982?

Ingrid Bergman, born in Stockholm on 29 August 1915, worked through eight years of breast cancer and won a posthumous Emmy in 1982 for A Woman Called Golda.

Elvis Presley and David Bowie share a birthday in which month?

Both were born on 8 January: Presley in Mississippi in 1935 and Bowie in Brixton in 1947; Bowie's final album Blackstar came out on his 69th birthday, two days before he died.

Elvis Presley was born in 1935 in which Mississippi town?

Elvis was born in a two-room shotgun house in Tupelo on 8 January 1935; his identical twin Jesse Garon was stillborn 35 minutes earlier, and the family moved to Memphis when he was 13.

In Tolkien's Middle-earth, The Lord of the Rings opens with Bilbo Baggins celebrating which birthday?

Bilbo calls his 111th his 'eleventy-first' birthday and shares the 22 September party with Frodo; hobbits give presents away on their birthdays rather than receiving them.

Hobbits are considered to come of age on which birthday?

Useless old objects hobbits cannot bear to throw away are 'mathoms', and they get regifted for years.

In John Hughes's 1984 film Sixteen Candles, why does Samantha's family forget her birthday?

It was Hughes's directorial debut, and Molly Ringwald's Sam ends up sleeping on the sofa because her grandparents have taken her room.

Jeanne Calment, the oldest person whose age has been verified, reached how many birthdays?

Jeanne Calment, born in Arles on 21 February 1875, reached 122 and died in August 1997; Guinness had recognised her in 1995 as the oldest person in recorded history.

On what is a 'name day', celebrated in countries like Greece and Poland, based?

Sweden marks Karl on 28 January, the anniversary of Charlemagne's death; in pious families the two dates were often made to coincide.

By superstition, what must you do when blowing out birthday candles for your wish to come true?

In the Anglosphere the number of candles usually matches the age, sometimes with one extra for luck.

The word piñata probably comes from an Italian word meaning what?

Italian pignatta, a fragile earthenware pot, derives from pigna (pine cone); the game reached Europe in the 14th century before Spanish missionaries carried it to Mexico.

A 'sweet sixteen' party is chiefly a tradition of which countries?

A sweet sixteen is celebrated mainly in The United States and Canada, where sixteen is the age many teenagers learn to drive and get first jobs, so it marks a kind of adulthood.

In the Philippines, the 'debut' is held for women at 18 and for young men on which birthday?

The Filipino debut is a formal coming-of-age ball: women hold it at 18, with '18 roses' and '18 candles' rituals, and men on their 21st birthday.

A Jewish boy traditionally marks his coming of age with a bar mitzvah on which birthday?

A bar mitzvah comes on a boy's 13th birthday; girls have a bat mitzvah at 12, or at 13 in Reform and Conservative congregations.

Japan's Coming of Age Day is held on which day each year?

Seijin no Hi falls on the second Monday of January, moved there from a fixed 15 January under the Happy Monday System in 2000; new adults attend city-hall ceremonies, many women in furisode kimono.

Under traditional East Asian age reckoning, how old was a baby considered on the day it was born?

A newborn counted as one year old under traditional East Asian reckoning; South Korea dropped this 'Korean age' for official purposes in June 2023, making people a year or two younger on paper.

A 'Beddian birthday', named after a New York firefighter, falls when what happens?

Your age matches the last two digits of your birth year: someone born in 1990 turns 90 in 2080. The term honours FDNY firefighter Bobby Beddia, who died in 2007.

On Gandhi's birthday, October 2, what closes across India in his honour?

2 October is a nationwide dry day in memory of the teetotal Gandhi, so liquor shops and bars stop selling alcohol; the holiday is called Gandhi Jayanti.

One of the Vindolanda tablets, found at a Roman fort in northern England, is famous as what?

Claudia Severa's note inviting Sulpicia Lepidina to her birthday, around AD 100, is a birthday party invitation between two officers' wives and among the earliest surviving Latin written by a woman.

What is the shared official birthday of every Northern Hemisphere racehorse?

Every Northern Hemisphere racehorse is reckoned a year older on New Year's Day; in the Southern Hemisphere the shared birthday is August 1, to match the breeding season.

Which scientist invented the rubber balloon in 1824, during experiments with various gases in his laboratory?

Michael Faraday made the first rubber balloons in 1824 at the Royal Institution to hold hydrogen for his experiments, not for parties; Neil Tillotson's mass-produced latex party balloons followed in 1931.

In Denmark, what is traditionally flown outside a home to mark a birthday?

Danes fly the national flag, the Dannebrog, from the house or a flagpole on a birthday, and small paper Dannebrogs decorate the cake and table.

Which US federal holiday marks a birthday on the third Monday of January?

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is observed on the third Monday of January to mark King's birthday; Presidents' Day follows a month later on the third Monday of February.

The Chinese zodiac assigns an animal to each birth year in a repeating cycle of how many years?

Each animal gets one year in turn, so the cycle repeats every 12 years; the zodiac is a Chinese-calendar scheme that gives every birth year an animal and its reputed attributes.

Some studies suggest people are statistically more likely to die on which day?

A 2012 Swiss study of 2.4 million deaths found people about 14% more likely to die on their own birthday than on other days; explanations range from drinking and stress to holding on for the milestone.

Luxembourg's Grand Duke has an official birthday typically celebrated on which date?

Luxembourg's National Day, 23 June, is the sovereign's official birthday; it was fixed there in 1961 because Grand Duchess Charlotte's real birthday, 23 January, fell in midwinter.

Which early Christian writer said believers should view birthdays 'with disgust' as pagan?

Early Christians considered celebrating anyone's birth a pagan custom.

Which Christian denomination does not celebrate birthdays, citing pagan origins?

They also note the negative light in which scripture presents them.

Iran celebrates Mother's Day on the birthday of which historical figure?

Fatima al-Zahra, Muhammad's daughter and wife of Ali, is venerated in Shia Islam; Iran marks Mother's Day and Women's Day on her birthday, 20 Jumada al-Thani in the Islamic calendar.

Which Italian communist leader was named Palmiro because he was born on Palm Sunday?

Palmiro Togliatti, born in Genoa on 26 March 1893, a Palm Sunday, led the Italian Communist Party from 1927 until his death in 1964; names like Noel and Pascal mark feast-day births the same way.

What did the ancient Romans call a birthday?

Dies natalis, literally 'natal day', was the Roman birthday, marked with offerings to the person's guardian genius; universities such as Leiden use the phrase for their foundation anniversaries.

What is the least common birthday in the US apart from February 29?

December 25 is the rarest non-leap birthday in US data, trailed by 1 January and 24 December, because scheduled inductions and caesareans are avoided on holidays; New Zealand shows the same pattern.

Which date is sometimes used as a leapling's legal birthday in a non-leap year?

March 1 is the leapling's legal birthday in common years in the UK and Hong Kong, while New Zealand uses 28 February; each jurisdiction's rule for counting a year decides.

Which US president was born on the Fourth of July?

Calvin Coolidge was born on 4 July 1872 in Plymouth Notch, Vermont; Adams, Jefferson and Monroe all died on the Fourth of July rather than being born on it.

In which city was Patty Hill a kindergarten principal?

She introduced Good Morning to All to her class.

Which publisher registered a copyright on Happy Birthday to You in 1935?

The Clayton F. Summy Company registered the song in 1935; its successor, Birch Tree Group, was bought by Warner/Chappell for $25 million in 1988.

Until which year did Warner claim the US copyright on Happy Birthday would last?

Warner/Chappell claimed protection until 2030, 95 years after the 1935 registration; Judge George H. King's September 2015 ruling found the registration covered only a specific piano arrangement.

Which documentary filmmaker sued Warner/Chappell over the song in 2013?

Jennifer Nelson, making a documentary about the song, paid $1,500 to license it and filed a class action in June 2013 that led to the 2015 ruling.

Which 1994 documentary paid $5,000 to safely use Happy Birthday to You?

Hoop Dreams (1994), Steve James's film about two Chicago basketball prospects, paid $5,000 to keep a birthday scene with the song; the fee became a standard example of the song's licensing cost.

Roughly how much a year did Warner/Chappell earn licensing the song before the suit?

Warner/Chappell collected about $2 million a year in fees from films, television shows and greeting cards before the 2013 class action challenged its claim.

Which song is traditionally sung at Mexican birthdays in place of 'Happy Birthday'?

Las Mañanitas ('the little mornings'), opening 'Estas son las mañanitas que cantaba el Rey David', is sung at Mexican birthdays, often as an early-morning serenade or before the cake.

Who traditionally eats the first slice of cake at the party?

The guest of honour, the birthday person, blows out the candles and cuts or takes the first slice before the cake is shared out; balloons and streamers decorate Western parties.

In Israeli kindergartens, what is done with the birthday child's chair?

Plus one lift 'for the next year'.

What are 'the bumps' called in Scotland?

Scottish children give 'the dumps', a thump on the back for each year plus one for luck, where English children give the bumps; French Canada and Australia deliver birthday punches the same way.

In Brazil, Hungary and Spain, what birthday torment is traditional?

Pulling the earlobes once for each year is the Hungarian, Brazilian and Spanish custom; Hungarians pair it with a rhyme wishing that the child's ears grow down to its ankles.

Where did the mass-produced birthday card first appear in the mid-19th century?

Britain produced the first mass-market birthday cards in the mid-1800s, soon after Henry Cole's 1843 Christmas card and the 1840 penny post made sending cards cheap.

Which author's 1959 picture book is titled Happy Birthday to You!?

Dr. Seuss's Happy Birthday to You! (1959) is set in the land of Katroo, where the Great Birthday Bird shepherds the child through a day of celebrations.

In the sweet sixteen shoe ceremony, what does a male relative help the girl into?

A father or other male relative swaps the girl's flat shoes for high heels, a rite borrowed from the quinceañera's cambio de zapatos, to mark her passage from girl to young woman.

Which Mexican empress is credited with reinforcing the quinceañera ball tradition?

Empress Carlota, the Belgian-born wife of Maximilian I, is credited with encouraging the presentation of girls at court in the 1860s, which the quinceañera ball echoes; she was a granddaughter of Louis Philippe I.

What are the young men in a quinceañera's court called?

The court's young men are chambelanes (chamberlains) and the young women damas; the quinceañera's own escort is the chambelán de honor.

In Jamaica, birthday celebrants are traditionally ambushed and covered in what?

Jamaicans 'antique' the birthday person with a surprise dusting of flour, often sprung by friends at school or work, so a white-coated victim is a sign of a birthday.

Which Korean deity, guardian of children, receives an offering at a doljanchi?

Samsin Halmeoni, the grandmother goddess of childbirth and children, is offered rice, miyeok-guk and pure water at the dol; Dangun is the legendary founder of Korea.

Japan lowered its age of majority to 18 under a law taking effect in which year?

The revised Civil Code lowering the age of majority from 20 to 18 took effect on 1 April 2022; drinking, smoking and gambling stayed restricted to those 20 and over.

Coming-of-age ceremonies have been held in Japan since at least which year?

The tradition is traced to 714 CE, when a young prince donned adult robes and a new hairstyle in the genpuku rite; the modern national holiday dates from 1948.

In which Mexican town did the piñata tradition begin, per local records?

Acolman de Nezahualcóyotl, near Mexico City, claims the first Mexican piñatas: Augustinian friars there received papal permission in 1586 for 'misas de aguinaldo' and used the game to teach catechism and co-opt an Aztec rite.

Which historian linked Aaron's twelve breastplate stones to months and zodiac signs?

Josephus, the first-century Jewish historian, connected the twelve stones of Aaron's breastplate to the months and the zodiac in Antiquities of the Jews, giving two different lists of the stones.

Which years are exceptions to the every-four-years leap rule?

So 2000 was a leap year but 1900 was not.

Since which year has Washington's Birthday been a federal holiday?

Congress made Washington's Birthday a holiday for federal workers in the District of Columbia in 1879 and extended it to all federal offices in 1885, the first federal holiday honouring an individual.

Lincoln's Birthday marks his birth on February 12, 1809, in which Kentucky town?

Lincoln was born in a log cabin at Sinking Spring Farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky; his birthday is not a federal holiday, and only some states, such as Illinois and New York, observe it.

Martin Luther King Jr. was born on which date in 1929?

King was born on 15 January 1929 at the family home on Auburn Avenue in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of a Baptist minister.

Where in London is Trooping the Colour held?

The Sovereign's Birthday Parade takes place on Horse Guards Parade, off Whitehall, with the monarch travelling down The Mall from Buckingham Palace to take the salute.

Where was the Buddha born, according to tradition?

Tradition places the Buddha's birth in Lumbini, in present-day Nepal; the Ashoka Pillar erected there in 249 BCE records the emperor's pilgrimage to the birthplace.

Which deputy of Saladin is believed to have first celebrated Mawlid publicly?

Gökböri, Saladin's brother-in-law and ruler of Erbil, staged lavish public Mawlid festivities around 1207; the Ottomans under Murad III made the Prophet's birthday an official holiday in 1588.

Krishna Janmashtami falls on the eighth day of the dark fortnight of which month?

Janmashtami falls on Krishna Paksha Ashtami of Shravana in the purnimanta calendar (Bhadrapada in the amanta reckoning), usually in August or September; Krishna is the eighth avatar of Vishnu.

India marks Children's Day on 14 November, the birthday of which leader?

Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, was born on 14 November 1889; his fondness for children earned him the nickname Chacha Nehru, and his birthday became Bal Diwas after his death in 1964.

Which Japanese botanist bred the begonia Kimjongilia for Kim Jong Il's 46th birthday?

Kamo Mototeru, a Japanese botanist, presented the red begonia Kimjongilia in 1988 for Kim Jong Il's 46th birthday; the orchid Kimilsungia, named for his father, came from Indonesia's Sukarno in 1965.

Thailand celebrates Mother's Day on 12 August, the birthday of which royal?

Queen Sirikit, consort of King Bhumibol, was born on 12 August 1932; Thailand has marked her birthday as Mother's Day since 1976, and it is a public holiday.

When was the first Burns supper held?

Nine of Burns's friends held the first supper at Burns Cottage in Alloway on 21 July 1801, the fifth anniversary of his death; the date later shifted to his birthday, 25 January.

Nine players of musical chairs start with how many chairs?

One chair is removed each round.

Thailand's Father's Day, 5 December, is the birthday of which king?

King Bhumibol Adulyadej (Rama IX) was born on 5 December 1927; Thailand adopted his birthday as Father's Day in 1980 and kept the date after his death in 2016.

Chinese longevity noodles, yi mein, owe their chewy texture to which ingredient?

Yi mein dough includes lye water (kansui), which gives the golden strands their springy chew; the noodles are fried and dried into flat bricks and served unbroken for long life.

Which Dutch topping is similar to the hundreds and thousands on fairy bread?

Fairy bread is usually cut into triangles.

Which retailer sells the Colin the Caterpillar cake, introduced in 1990?

Marks & Spencer launched Colin the Caterpillar in 1990 and had sold more than 15 million by 2021, when it sued Aldi over the lookalike Cuthbert the Caterpillar.

Jeanne Calment's verified lifespan was 122 years and how many days?

Jeanne Calment lived 122 years and 164 days, from 21 February 1875 to 4 August 1997, all of it in Arles, outliving both her daughter and her grandson.

A supercentenarian has reached what age?

A supercentenarian is anyone aged 110 or over; roughly one centenarian in a thousand reaches that mark, and about nine in ten verified cases are women.

How many living centenarians did the UN estimate worldwide in 2020?

The UN put the world's centenarians at about 573,000 in 2020, almost four times the 151,000 estimated in 2000; Japan had the largest number, more than 80,000.

Isaac Newton's Christmas Day 1642 birth date is reckoned in which calendar?

England kept the Julian calendar until 1752, so Newton's birth on 25 December 1642 at Woolsthorpe corresponds to 4 January 1643 in the Gregorian calendar.

Which 1938 song did Monroe follow Happy Birthday with, using new lyrics?

After the birthday song Monroe sang 'Thanks for the Memory', the 1938 Bob Hope standard, with new words beginning 'Thanks, Mr. President, for all the things you've done'.

Katy Perry's Birthday appears on which 2013 album?

'Birthday' was the fourth single from Prism, released in October 2013; Perry co-wrote it with Bonnie McKee, Dr. Luke, Max Martin and Cirkut, and it reached the US top 20 in 2014.

Purcell's 1694 ode 'Come Ye Sons of Art' celebrated whose birthday?

Henry Purcell wrote Come Ye Sons of Art, with its duet 'Sound the Trumpet', for Queen Mary II's birthday on 30 April 1694; she died of smallpox that December.

Which Scottish band's Happy Birthday reached number two in the UK in 1981?

Altered Images, fronted by Clare Grogan, took 'Happy Birthday' to number two in October 1981; Martin Rushent, fresh from the Human League's Dare, produced the single.

Whose first full-length play was The Birthday Party, performed in 1958?

Harold Pinter's The Birthday Party, his first full-length play, opened in 1958 and closed within a week in London; it is the classic 'comedy of menace', with Stanley hounded by Goldberg and McCann.

Which character in Through the Looking-Glass received an 'un-birthday present' cravat?

Humpty Dumpty's cravat was an un-birthday present from the White King and Queen; Alice first mistakes it for a belt, and he explains that a year holds 364 un-birthdays.

What is the 60th birthday called in Japanese?

Kanreki marks the 60th birthday, when the sexagenary cycle of zodiac animals and elements returns to one's birth year; the celebrant often wears a red vest, and Koreans call it hwangap.

Björk first found fame with 'Birthday', a 1987 single by which band?

The Sugarcubes' debut single 'Birthday' (1987) launched the band and Björk internationally; they released three albums before she went solo with Debut in 1993.

Which Beatles song asks 'Will you still need me, will you still feed me'?

When I'm Sixty-Four, on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), was written by McCartney as a teenager and recorded with a clarinet trio; the tape was sped up to make his voice sound younger.

Birthday Honours lists have been issued since at least which monarch's reign?

Honours have been handed out on the sovereign's birthday since at least 1860 under Queen Victoria; 1876 was a rare year with no list.

In the 2017 Blumhouse slasher Happy Death Day, which actress plays Tree Gelbman, the student murdered on her birthday on repeat?

Jessica Rothe stars as Tree, who relives her birthday murder again and again; the film cost $4.8 million, grossed $125.5 million and got a sequel, Happy Death Day 2U, in 2019.

Japan's Shichi-Go-San festival for children aged three, five and seven is held on which date?

Shichi-Go-San is held on 15 November, though families visit shrines on nearby weekends; children receive chitose ame, long red-and-white 'thousand year candy' in a bag decorated with a crane and a turtle.

A 2017 Clemson study found blowing out candles raised bacteria on cake frosting by roughly how much?

Clemson food scientist Paul Dawson's team found blowing out candles raised frosting bacteria by about 1,400%, or 14 times, on average, with some cases far higher; Dawson called it 'not a big health concern'.

After Emperor Hirohito's death, Japan kept his 29 April birthday as what?

Hirohito's 29 April birthday stayed a public holiday after his death in 1989, first as Greenery Day and from 2007 as Showa Day, opening Golden Week.

Which NASA rover played 'Happy Birthday to You' to itself on Mars in 2013, a year after landing?

Curiosity marked one Earth year in Gale crater by playing the tune out loud to an empty planet. The car-sized rover went on to outlast its planned two-year mission by more than a decade.

In the nursery rhyme 'Monday's Child', the child born on which day of the week is 'full of woe'?

Wednesday is the sorrowful one, which is why the creator of The Addams Family gave the name to his 'child of woe'. An 1887 printing of the rhyme blamed Friday instead.

Which physicist was born on 14 March, the date now celebrated by maths fans as Pi Day?

Albert Einstein was born in Ulm on 14 March 1879. Princeton, where he lived for more than twenty years, celebrates both at once with pie eating and an Einstein look-alike contest.

Which English naturalist was born on 12 February 1809, the very same day as Abraham Lincoln?

Charles Darwin was born at The Mount, his family's home in Shrewsbury, on the day Lincoln arrived in a one-room log cabin across the Atlantic.

Trick birthday candles relight themselves after being blown out thanks to which metal hidden in the wick?

Magnesium in the wick ignites the paraffin vapour that drifts off a blown-out candle. Because they can relight in the bin, the advice is to soak them in water before throwing them away.

In Pixar's Toy Story, which new toy arrives as Andy's birthday present and replaces Woody as his favourite?

Buzz Lightyear was a present from Andy's mother. An early draft of the script instead followed Tinny, a one-man-band toy given to a boy as a birthday gift.

Which Winnie-the-Pooh character is given a popped balloon and an empty honey jar for his birthday?

Eeyore gets the jar from Pooh 'for keeping things in' and the red balloon from Piglet to keep in it. Fans in Austin, Texas, hold an annual festival called Eeyore's Birthday Party in his honour.

Which Roman had his birth month renamed after him by the Senate in 44 BC, a name still on every calendar?

Julius Caesar was born in the month Romans called Quintilis, the fifth of a year that began in March. Augustus later got a month too, but picked it for his victories, not his birth.

Mickey Mouse's birthday, 18 November 1928, is the date of the New York premiere of which cartoon short?

Steamboat Willie counts as Mickey's debut even though he had appeared months earlier in a test screening of Plane Crazy. For his 50th anniversary he became the first cartoon character with a Hollywood Walk of Fame star.

Which zodiac sign for late September and October birthdays is the only one represented by an object?

Libra is drawn as a pair of scales, based on the Scales of Justice held by Themis in Greek myth. The other eleven signs are all animals or mythological characters.

In Disney's Tangled, what do the king and queen release every year on their lost daughter's birthday?

Sky lanterns go up each year in the hope they will guide Rapunzel home. The image arrived late in development, when animator John Ripa floated the idea at a story meeting.

Which Hogwarts character breaks the news to Harry Potter that he is a wizard on his eleventh birthday?

Rubeus Hagrid, a half-giant, turns up to invite him to a school of magic. Apart from its first chapter, the whole of the first book happens around and in the year after that birthday.

In The Lord of the Rings, which character murders a relative to claim the One Ring as a birthday present?

Gollum, then known as Sméagol, was out fishing with Déagol in the Gladden Fields on his birthday. He demanded the Ring as a gift and strangled Déagol for refusing.

In Disney's Sleeping Beauty, Aurora is cursed to prick her finger on what on her sixteenth birthday?

A spindle on a spinning wheel conjured by Maleficent does the damage, although three good fairies hide Aurora until that very day. One of them, Merryweather, had already softened the curse from death to a deep sleep.

Which birthday-party pizza chain with animatronic shows was founded by Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell?

Chuck E. Cheese was meant to be a coyote until Bushnell learned the costume he had bought was a rat. His aim was to move arcade games out of pool halls and into family venues.

The United Nations marks 18 July, the birthday of which South African leader, as a day of public service?

Nelson Mandela fought for social justice for 67 years, so the day asks people to give 67 minutes of their time to others. The UN General Assembly declared it in November 2009.

Which birthstone for April takes its name from the Greek 'adamas', meaning unbreakable?

Diamond is the hardest known natural material, and the hardest stones can be scratched only by other diamonds. It also marks a sixtieth anniversary, as in a Diamond Jubilee.

Which February birthstone did ancient Greeks carve into drinking cups to ward off drunkenness?

Amethyst comes from the Greek for 'not intoxicated'. Anglican bishops often wear one in their rings, a nod to the Apostles being 'not drunk' at Pentecost.

Which zodiac sign for late May and June birthdays is represented by the brothers Castor and Pollux?

Gemini recalls the myth in which Pollux begged Zeus to share his immortality with the dead Castor, uniting them in the heavens. Babylonian astronomers called the two stars the Great Twins.

In the Chinese zodiac's Great Race legend, which animal finished first after hitching a ride on the Ox?

The Rat leapt off at the finish to reach the Jade Emperor ahead of the Ox, which is why it comes first in the cycle. In one telling it also pushed the Cat into the river on the way.

Which singer released the album B'Day in September 2006 to coincide with her own 25th birthday?

Beyoncé named the album after the occasion and put it out worldwide on 4 September 2006, the day she turned 25. American fans had to wait one more day.

Which actress stars in 13 Going on 30 as a girl whose birthday wish turns her into an adult overnight?

Jennifer Garner won wide praise for her first leading film role, one critic writing that you can pinpoint the moment she becomes a star. Some countries released the film as Suddenly 30.

In which 1997 comedy does a boy's birthday wish force his lawyer father to tell only the truth for a day?

Liar Liar stars Jim Carrey as Fletcher Reede, whose son Max makes the wish after his dad misses his fifth birthday party. A year on, Max's next wish is only for rollerblades.

Which comic-strip cat celebrates his birthday every 19 June, the date his strip debuted nationwide in 1978?

Garfield's backstory has him born in the kitchen of Mamma Leoni's Italian Restaurant. The strip itself launched nationwide in just 41 newspapers.

Which company invented the singing telegram in 1933 with a birthday greeting sung to star Rudy Vallée?

Western Union's publicity chief wanted telegrams, long tied to news of deaths, to feel fun, so he had operator Lucille Lipps sing the message down the phone. He recalled being told he was making the company a laughingstock.

Which teenager topped the US chart in 1963 with 'It's My Party', a birthday lament produced by Quincy Jones?

Lesley Gore was a high-school junior when she picked the song from some two hundred demos Jones brought to her family home. Its sequel, 'Judy's Turn to Cry', reached number five.

Which pop star, credited under a fake name, voiced a Simpsons guest who co-writes 'Happy Birthday Lisa'?

Michael Jackson was credited as 'John Jay Smith' and wrote the song himself, but a soundalike did the singing because of his record contract.

Which Italian opera composer was a leap-day baby, born on 29 February 1792 in the Adriatic town of Pesaro?

Gioachino Rossini, the son of a trumpeter and a singer, was composing by the age of twelve. His best-known opera, The Barber of Seville, followed in 1816.

In which Gilbert and Sullivan opera does Frederic's leap-day birthday keep him an apprentice until 1940?

The Pirates of Penzance turns on a contract binding Frederic until his twenty-first birthday. Born on 29 February, he has had only five of them and will be in his eighties before he is free.

Which diarist received her red-and-white checked notebook as a thirteenth birthday present in June 1942?

Anne Frank was given what was really an autograph book, with a small lock on the front. Her father Otto, the family's only survivor, published the diary in 1947.

Which actor earned his first Oscar nomination as Vietnam veteran Ron Kovic in Born on the Fourth of July?

Tom Cruise played a man whose birthday really is 4 July: Kovic was born on that day in 1946. On the last day of filming, Kovic gave him his own Bronze Star for a 'heroic performance'.

Which jazz trumpeter often claimed a 4 July 1900 birthday but is now believed to have been born in August 1901?

Louis Armstrong, nicknamed Satchmo, is now believed to have been born in New Orleans on 4 August 1901, though even that date has been heavily debated.

Which Japanese character's official profile gives her a 1 November birthday and a home in suburban London?

Hello Kitty's full name is Kitty White, and her profile lists her height as five apples and her weight as three. She shares the family home with a twin sister, Mimmy.

Birth rates in Chinese communities often spike in years of which zodiac animal, considered especially lucky?

Dragon years bring marked jumps in births because children born then are thought to have better lives ahead. The animal is not universal: Thailand's calendar replaces it with the nāga.

Which UN Secretary-General's first name marks him, in the Akan naming tradition, as a boy born on a Friday?

Kofi Annan was born on a Friday in a culture where some children are named for their day of the week. His middle name, Atta, means twin, and he shared it with his twin sister.

In the British party game pass the parcel, a player unwraps one layer each time what happens?

The music stops and whoever is holding the parcel peels off a layer, keeping any small prize hidden beneath it. Some hosts hide a prize in every layer, others only in the last.

In Disney's Alice in Wonderland, which character explains unbirthdays and gives Alice an unbirthday cake?

The Mad Hatter is singing 'The Unbirthday Song' with the March Hare and the Dormouse when Alice stumbles on their party. He brings the party up again as a witness at her trial.

In Disney's Frozen Fever, whose surprise birthday party does Queen Elsa plan while fighting off a cold?

Anna gets her party, but each of Elsa's sneezes produces little snow-babies called Snowgies, which set about pulling down the decorations.

In The Twilight Saga: New Moon, what injury at Bella's eighteenth birthday party nearly gets her attacked?

A paper cut is enough to send Jasper Hale into a frenzy, convincing Edward she is not safe among vampires. The film opens with her dreaming that she has grown old while he stays young.

Which Australian singer fronted The Birthday Party, a post-punk band that left Melbourne for London in 1980?

Nick Cave was notorious in those years for shrieking and throwing himself about the stage. After the group ended in 1983, he and bandmate Mick Harvey went on to form the Bad Seeds.

Which composer woke his wife Cosima with the 'Siegfried Idyll', a birthday present played on their stairs?

Richard Wagner had a small ensemble play it on Christmas morning 1870, and Cosima awoke to its opening melody. He called it a 'symphonic birthday greeting'.

Which festival, named after a lunar month, marks the Buddha's birthday across South and Southeast Asia?

Vesak honours the Buddha's enlightenment and death as well as his birth, all on one full-moon day. A 1950 conference in Sri Lanka settled on it as the shared date for his birthday.

Which Brill Building songwriter reached the US top ten singing 1961's 'Happy Birthday Sweet Sixteen'?

Neil Sedaka had joked to lyricist Howard Greenfield that the pair were so hot they could write a birthday song and it would be a hit. Greenfield took him at his word, and it reached number six.

Which Australian magazine's Children's Birthday Cake Book is famous for its train and swimming-pool cakes?

Women's Weekly sold more than a million copies of the cookbook, which many simply call 'the book with the train on the cover'. The jelly-filled swimming pool was dubbed 'the crowning glory' because it looked so hard to build.

Which Russian-born composer reworked 'Happy Birthday to You' into the orchestral 'Greeting Prelude' in 1955?

Igor Stravinsky first met the tune in 1950, when an orchestra sprang it on him in rehearsal and he did not recognise it. He wrote the prelude for conductor Pierre Monteux's 80th birthday.

In Thailand, which colour of the day belongs to people born on a Monday, including two recent kings?

Yellow fills Thailand's streets on both kings' birthdays for exactly that reason. Many Thais still pick their clothes to match the colour assigned to each day of the week.

Which US military service marks its birthday every 10 November with a ball and a cake-cutting ceremony?

The Marine Corps traces its founding to a Continental Congress resolution of 10 November 1775. At the ceremony, the oldest Marine present hands a piece of cake to the youngest.

In The Office, whose birthday do Jim and Dwight forget after taking charge of the Party Planning Committee?

Kelly Kapoor ends up with a hastily thrown party, horrible decorations and two planners who cannot remember her age. They got the job because Phyllis and Angela kept fighting over it.

Which party attraction grew from engineer John Scurlock's 1950s work on inflatable covers for tennis courts?

Bouncy castle history begins with Scurlock's 'Space Pillow', which had little in common with today's versions. Renting them out for parties was the idea of his wife, Frances.

Which October birthstone is the national gemstone of Australia, long cited as the main source of world supply?

Opal from Australia has been cited as 95 to 97 per cent of the world's precious supply, though newer data suggest that is overstated. Before its fields opened in the 19th century, Europe's opal came from mines in what is now Slovakia.