Learn the History of the Song "Happy Birthday to You"

The History Behind the Song "Happy Birthday to You"

The melody to the song “Happy Birthday to You” (also known as "The Birthday Song") was written in the early 1890’s by an American woman by the name of Mildred Hill. Her sister Patti, who was a teacher, put the lyric “Good morning dear teacher, good morning to you” to fit the melody. The song grew in popularity over the years and was eventually sung in schools across the US. Some forty years later, it is believed that Patti came up with the words "Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday to You, Happy Birthday Dear <name>, Happy Birthday to You," and fit those words to her sister’s melody. The entire song was then published in 1935. The song was popularized later in the 1930's when it was sung in the Broadway production of “As Thousands Cheer,” and has since become the mega-classic hit of all time.

Birthday Factoids

More people celebrate their birthdays in August than in any other month (about 9% of all people). The two other months that rate high for birthdays are July and September.
The world's largest birthday cake was created in 1989 for the 100th Birthday of the city of Fort Payne, Alabama. The cake weighed 128,238 pounds, 8 oz. and used 16,209 pounds of icing.
The previous factoid was so amazing, we just couldn't top it with another factoid! (. . . actually, the truth is we couldn't find any another birthday factoid).

***Click here to buy The Birthday CD for only $9.49***

(you can also listen to 30-second audio samples of ALL 50 tracks on The Birthday CD MP3 Edition here)

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