Every Northern Hemisphere racehorse turns one year older on January 1
Racehorses do not get individual birthdays: in the Northern Hemisphere they all age a year on January 1, and south of the equator on August 1. Humans are more varied, marking ages from 100 days to 105 years with feasts, ceremonies, cards from royalty and, in one country, a nationwide closure of liquor shops.
A birthday is the yearly anniversary of a birth, whether of a person or, figuratively, of an institution. It differs from a birthdate, which includes the year. Anyone born on February 29 misses the anniversary in most years. When someone's real birthday is unknown, as can happen with orphans, many places simply assign one, such as January 1.
Birthdays carry legal weight. The age of majority, set at 18 in most countries though ranging from about 12 to 21, is when a young person stops being legally a child and takes charge of their own decisions. Other milestones unlock or impose voting, marriage, driving, conscription, alcohol purchases and even lottery tickets.
Coming-of-age celebrations cluster at particular years. North American families may throw a sweet sixteen for daughters, while in parts of the Hispanic world and Brazil the quinceañera or festa de quinze anos marks fifteen. Japan holds Coming of Age Day for everyone who has turned 18, and Filipino debuts come at 18 for young women and 21 for young men. Jewish boys have a bar mitzvah at 13, and girls a bat mitzvah at 12, or sometimes 13 in Reform and Conservative communities, taking on religious obligations. Korea celebrates a baby's 100th day with Baek-il and the first birthday with Doljanchi, some zodiac-calendar countries honour the 60th, and Commonwealth citizens receive royal cards at 100, 105 and every year after.
The familiar party has its own rituals: a cake bearing candles matching the person's age, a silent wish that supposedly comes true only if every flame goes out in one breath and the wish stays secret, and a song whose tune began as Patty and Mildred Hill's Good Morning to You. Some countries swap the cake for a piñata. Nations honour heroes and founders with holidays, monarchs often have an official birthday unrelated to their real one, and India marks Gandhi Jayanti on October 2 by shutting liquor shops, since Gandhi never drank.
Source: Birthday
