The Germans are credited with making cakes and putting candles on it. The Germans also put candles on forest trees during the winter solstice festival... and that became the Christmas tree.

The famous birthday song we sing started as "Good Morning to You". As to why we make such a big deal about birthdays: marking the event and showing the light in the dark, the spiritual beliefs of the ancestors point back to Egypt, where the pharaoh's birthday or coronation day was celebrated. Romans, of course, popularized it.

What are the best gifts to give on a birthday? Some rely on good quality consumables, so as to avoid adding to the clutter in a household. Some buy something for which a request was made, and some decide to shed light into the future.

Some useful English vocabulary is the gifts to the birthday person are called gifts, and the gifts from the birthday person to the guest are called party favours. In some countries, there is more emphasis on party favours than on gifts.

Happy birthday to you...

And if today is not your birthday, I hope you celebrate today being the best possible today that today can be: make it awesome and have a great day.