A birthday is the anniversary of the birth of a person, or figuratively of an institution. Birthdays of people are celebrated in numerous cultures, often with birthday gifts, birthday cards, a birthday party, or a rite of passage.
Birthday cakes are very commonplace in birthday celebrations. Here, a Black Forest cake is adorned with candles and a topper indicating the recipient's 40th birthday.
A one-year-old girl playing with her birthday balloons in Bangladesh
A 90th birthday celebration at home
Child with Snow White cake, circa 1910–1940.
An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saints.
Swedish celebrities including Miss Sweden Johanna Lind, Camilla Henemark, Alexandra Charles and Christina Schollin celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Mae West at Berns in Stockholm in 1993
Memorial plaque presented by the National Capital Sesquicentennial Commission in Washington, D.C. in 1951