William Shakespearedid it . So didCasablancaactress Ingrid Bergman . The Feminine MystiqueauthorBetty Friedan , too . All were influential figures , and all alsodied on their birthdays . There ’s some statistical grounds to indicate that there ’s a better - than - average chance of someone expiring on their escort of parturition compared to any other day of the twelvemonth . It ’s called the “ birthday consequence . ”
Astudypublished in theAnnals of Epidemiologyin August 2012 looked at all causes of mortality against the deceased ’s date of giving birth . At first , the information was intend to examine the hypothesis of death hold , in which an ail somebody might somehow delay the inevitable so they could enjoy another natal day .
or else , research worker discover the opposite . In looking at the deathrate data of nearly 2.4 million Swiss people aged 1 yr old and up from 1969 to 2008 , they discovered there was a 13.8 percent gain in the potential for destruction on someone ’s birthday . For people 60 and over , the increment jumped to 18 percent .
One obvious finis is that the at rest may have died by suicide , which is believed to hap more often during holidays , birthday , and other milestones . And while that was part of the equality , the main movement was long - gestating cardiovascular issues such as essence attacks , illnesses like Crab , and even accident like fall . In fact , man were 44 percentage more potential to exit via plummeting on their birthday .
“ We concluded that birthdays end lethally more oftentimes than might be expected , ” the paper summarized .
So what could be the causa ? That ’s a tricky question . Onetheoryis that people experience more physical natural action on their birthday , either from terpsichore , sexual congress , or generalized partying . put stress on the cardiovascular organization could ignite abeyant issue and hasten a cardiac - pertain event .
Another party staple fiber , drinking , could be a reason people tend to have an uptick in decline or other accidents . And there ’s a human error element . It’spossiblethat for a portion of those succumbing to the “ natal day issue , ” their death date were mistakenly put down to match their day of the month of giving birth . If thathappenedeven a fraction of a percentage of the time , it would be enough to explicate the discrepancies .
But what of the original intent of the Swiss written report , which was to see if decease could be willed into delay ? There ’s case law for that . In 1978 , a new Australian revenue enhancement law abolished heritage taxes for anyone expiring after July 1 , 1979 [ PDF ] . The statistic of death in the body politic for that last ( nonexempt ) week of support and the ( tax - free ) week following were substantial . Roughly 50 deaths that would be deliberate average for June were add together in July , as though the three estates holders clung on long enough to help their inheritor avoid tax rate of up to 27.9 per centum .
And in 2000,The New York Timesobservedthat the number of deaths in New York City was 50.8 percent high the first week of 2000 compared to the first week in 1999 . One explanation : mass on the brink of passing in late 1999 managed to marshal their strength and reserve on long enough to see the new millennium .
What conclusions you draw from all this are up to you . While it ’s potential your candles could be snuffed out on your birthday due to outside circumstances , you may still have the innate power to keep them sting through sheer willpower . Just maybe avoid heights and the dancing floor .
