Birthdays first started as a form of protection.

It is assumed that the Greeks adopted the Egyptian tradition of celebrating the “birth” of a god. They, like many other Pagan cultures, thought that days of major change, such as these “birthdays, welcomed evil spirits. It all started with the Egyptians. Scholars, who study the Bible, say that the earliest mention of a birthday was around 3,000 B.C.E. and was in reference to a pharaoh’s birthday. But further study implies that this was not their birth into the world, but their “birth” as a god.