Where does the phrase 'Many Happy Returns' come from?

Where does the phrase 'Many Happy Returns' come from?
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answer:I understand it like this: Happy birthday, and many happy returns of the day. (That’s the full expression.) I interpret this to mean: may this day (your birthday) happily return many times—in other words, may you live to see many happy birthdays still to come. Same with any other kind of anniversary: may the date return many times in your future life, and happily so.
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