... and the reason birthdays are visible is that they recur every year

I'm a bit surprised the Lumia doesn't have a repeat option - how does it deal with birthdays?

Entering directly on the N9 the maximum interval is 1 year but if you use Google calendar to add/edit them you can make it longer if you want.

It's seriously irritating to have to use a workaround like this on something so basic but it does work - honest!