Have you ever wondered where the term many happy returns comes from? I have wondered, but now I wonder no more. My astrologer explained it on his website today:
The heavenly bodies in our solar system are forever circling the sky. When one of them gets back to the position it occupied on the day a person was born, we say it has 'returned'. When the Sun appears to come back we say it is a 'birthday' and wish each other 'Many Happy Returns'.
~Jonathan Cainer (cainer.com)
Who'd a thunk it??