124 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.