Funny World Birthday Trivia

Here’s a little secret about what we do behind the scenes at NobleWorks Cards: we make jokes, and lots of them. This list of trivia about birthdays is just one way we use different cultures, current events, historical facts and more to pump out thousands of uniquely hilarious birthday cards day after day. All of these funny pieces of data guide us toward the cards we build to help you celebrate the best day of the year: your birthday.

If you’re looking for the best jokes to write inside a card for a half-centenarian, explore our 50^th birthday trivia. Find 1996 birthday trivia or year-specific facts to help honor the birthday boy or girl in an unconventional way. Broken down by country, this list of global birthday trivia reminds us just how strange some of our birthday conventions are. Did you know that in Malaysia, gifts are never opened in front of the person who gave the gift? Or that it’s bad luck to give someone a clock or a watch for their birthday in China? When broken down, so many of our birthday customs just seem outright strange. Did you know that in many countries, people place burning wax atop a frosted cake and sing a copyrighted song? And then the person who’s celebrating their birthday is supposed to blow out the flames and make a wish? It’s all bizarre, when you think about it.

We’ve also organized this hilarious birthday trivia list by subjects like food, dates, facts and songs. It’s important that you know that in America, the least common birthday month is May, while the most common birthday is Oct. 5. All of these fun tidbits are meant to educate, inspire and celebrate the oddities of our birthday culture.

China	Don't give a clock or watch as a birthday gift in China. It's bad luck!
Dates	In America, the most common birth date is October 5 and the least common is May.
Days of the week	The day of the week in which the most babies are born is Tuesday while Sunday has the fewest births.
England	The first birthday card was sent in England over one hundred years ago.
Facts	First century Jewish law forbid the celebrations of birthdays.
Facts	Early, European birthday parties were held because people thought they were vulnerable to demons on their birthdays.
Facts	The first balloons are thought to originate from children's toys that were made out of animal intestines filled with water.
Facts	Close to 2 billion birthday cards are sent each year in the U.S. alone, accounting for nearly 58 percent of all greeting cards sent.
Facts	Exactly 31,536,000 seconds have passed since your last birthday.
Facts	The sun has traveled 584,337,600 miles since your last birthday.
Food	The world's largest birthday cake was created in 1989 it weighed 128,238 pounds, 8 oz. and used 16,209 pounds of icing.
Food	The first birthday cake with candles happened in 18th century Greece.
Food	Putting candles on a birthday cake originated from Greek goddess worship.
Historical	Anne Frank's world famous diary was given to her when she was thirteen years old.
Historical	William Shakespeare died on his 52nd birthday: 23 April 1616.
Historical	Noisemakers were used in Europe to scare away evil spirits and demons on someone's birthday. People didn't send birthday cards in ancient times.
Historical	Jesus' birthday is celebrated on December 25 to convert people from celebrating Saturnalia.
Korea	In Korea, the two most important birthdays are the 100th day and the 60th year.
Money	The Sultan of Brunei hosted the world's most expensive Birthday Party to celebrate his 50th Birthday on 13 July, 1996. The cost was around $27.2 million.
Pharaohs	Ancient Egyptian Pharaohs are recorded as having elaborate birthday parties. No word on if they sent hilarious cards.
Song	The "Happy Birthday Song" is copyrighted.
Malaysia	Don't give a birthday gift to someone you don't know well, or it will be seen as a bribe.
Malaysia	Gifts are never opened in front of the person who gave the gift.
Japan	Give gifts to person in private. People normally don't give funny birthday cards.
Facts	May 22nd is the least common birth date besides February 29th.
Facts	In North Korea, People don't celebrate birthdays on July 8 and December 17. This is because July 8 is the death day of Kim Il-sung, and December 17 is the death day of Kim Jong-Il. Around 100,000 residents in North Korea celebrate fake birthdays on July 9 or December 18.