Is there any significance in Judaism attached to the day someone was born (aside for the 13th year)? Is there anything wrong with celebrating one's birthday? And is it more correct to celebrate the "hebrew" date or the gregorian date?
Answer
There are definitely some specially celebratory ones other than age 13, such as when one surpasses the deadline for kares, as Rav Yosef did when he turned 60 and threw himself a party (Mo'ed Katan 28). The Kaf Hachayim, cited in this article by Rav Ari Enkin, also quotes sources for age 70 being an appropriate birthday to recite birkas shehechiyanu (presumably due to its identification with the human lifespan). That same article presents plenty of sources for the significance of the birthdays of great people in our history, both from practical and metaphysical standpoints.
The assumption in all of the above is that the birthday of significance is the Jewish one. For example, (as you noted) it is what determines the date that one reaches legal adulthood, and all other considerations in halacha.
The series of encyclopedic works on various topics in halacha, Nit'ei Gavri'el, recently added a volume on birthdays. I haven't read it, but it's worth checking out as the rest of the series is an excellent source of sources.
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