Birthday Facts and Trends

Did you know that in a classroom full of 23 people, there is a 50% chance that someone in the classroom has the same birthday as you? Following are other fun birthday facts and trends:

The Industry

• Birthday shopping is a $10 billion industry
• Birthday cards are 62% of the everyday occasion card industry
• Approximately 1.2 billion birthday cards are given each year, according to Hallmark research
• About 5 million people celebrate birthdays in the U.S. each week (an average of 700,000 birthdays occur each day)
• 11,000 Baby Boomers turn 50 each day, and will for the next 10 years (there are 76 million Baby Boomers)
• The average American receives eight birthday cards and four gifts per year
• Consumers write additional messages inside a birthday card 70% of the time
• For Americans, birthdays are the #1 reason to party
• 50% of all partyware is for birthdays, with more than half for children’s parties
• More than one-fourth of all birthday cards are given to friends
• About two-thirds of birthday cards are mailed, according to Hallmark

Facts and Trends

• More people are born in August than any other month (9%). About 21 million Americans have birthdays in August
• July ranks number two in birthdays (8.8% of births) and February is last (7.6%)
• More people are born on October 5th in the United States than any other day. October 5 holds a not-so-surprising significance as conception would have fallen on New Year's Eve
• The least common birth date in the U.S. is May 22nd
• With people staying in school longer, moving back in with Mom and Dad and getting married later in life, the 30th birthday is the new milestone for entering adulthood as the 21st birthday represented in the past
• Approximately 187,000 people in the United States have a Leap Year birthday

Global Birthdays

• Birthdays have been celebrated only since invention of the calendar in 4000 B.C. Only kings celebrated their birthdays in ancient times because no records were kept on common people
• The first birthday card originated in England in 1850
• More U.S. presidents were born in October than any other month (John Adams, Rutherford B. Hayes, Chester Arthur, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower and Jimmy Carter).
• The most famous rendition of "Happy Birthday" is when Marilyn Monroe sang to "Happy Birthday, Mr President" to President John F. Kennedy at Madison Square Garden on May 19th, 1962.
• Paul McCartney's Birth Certificate was auctioned in March 1997, for US $84,146. It is believed to be the world's most expensive Birth Certificate.
• The Sultan of Brunei hosted the world's most expensive Birthday Party to celebrate his 50th Birthday on 13 July, 1996.
• The cost was a whopping US $27.2 million. Three concerts featuring Michael Jackson costs US $16 million of the total amount.
• Anne Frank's world famous diary was given to her as a present for her 13th birthday.
• William Shakespeare's died on his 52nd birthday: 23 April 1616.In England, when you reach 80, 90 or 100 years of age, you receive a telegram from the Queen.
• In Japan, usually only the birthdays of 60, 70, 79, 88, and 99 rate gifts. Also, gifts consisting of less than ten items in a set should be given in odd numbers (tea cups are sold in sets of five). Avoid the numbers 4 and 9 in general. White gift wrap is associated with death (so is four of something).
• Germans take birthdays seriously, sometimes receiving a half-day of vacation. Flowers and wine are common gifts among friends.
• In China, small birthday gifts are given by family and friends. Age 30 is considered becoming an adult (there's quite a celebration). For men, age 60 is usually combined with retirement (for those doing physical labor). Don't give clocks as gifts (the Mandarin word for clock is similar to one for death). Avoid wrapping the gift using white, black or blue colors.
• The French and Italian celebrate Name Days more so than birthdays.
• In India, black and white gift wrapping is considered unlucky.
• In the Islamic world, green is a good color to use for wrapping.
• In Korea, the two most important birthdays are the 100th day and the 60th year.
  

Birthstones