St. Valentine's Day falls on February 14th of each year. Its origins are deeply rooted in Roman culture -- celebrations, religion, rituals, and way of life. However, it is also a time to celebrate love between lovers, husbands, wives, mothers, fathers, siblings, children and pets.
Here are some of the most interesting facts about Valentine's Day:
1. The popular theory about Valentine's Day is that Emperor Claudius II prohibited young Roman soldiers from marrying during wartime. However, Bishop Valentine didn't care for the arrangement and performed secret weddings. Soon the word reached the Emperor, for this, Valentine was jailed and executed. While in jail he wrote a letter to the jailor's daughter signing it "From your Valentine".
2. Valentine's Day is the second most popular day of the year for sending cards, second only to Christmas. Nearly 1 billion cards are exchanged each Valentine's Day annually.
3. During the Middle Ages men and women would pick names of a bowl and the person's name they drew would be considered their Valentine. They would wear that person's name on their sleeve for a week. From this originated the saying wear your heart on your sleeve comes from.
4. The Chinese had a similar tradition to Valentine's. The Qixi Festival is a celebration of love that originated on the love story between a weaver girl and a cow herd. It falls on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month, is what Valentine's Day to the Western world.
5. The colour red is often used on Valentine decorations. The word "lace" comes from the latin laques, meaning "to snare or net" as in to catch a person's heart.
6. Pope Gelasius established Valentine's Day in Valentine's Day in A.D 500 in a move to appropriate the ancient pagan Roman festival, Lupercalia, into Christianity.
7. Condom sales are usually higher around Valentine's Day (according to Durex).
8. Millions of heart-shaped boxes of chocolate are brought every year foe Valentine's Day.
9. Valentine's Day may have been named after the priest Valentine of Terni, who was arrested and killed on February 14 in A.D 269. It is said that an almond tree near his grave burst with pink flowers and all the birds chose mates, hence the term "love birds".
10. What is known as the oldest Valentine's Day card is on display at the British Museum in London. It dates back to the 1400s.
11. Teachers receive the most Valentine's Day cards followed by children, mothers, wives, sweethearts and pets.
12. The first box of chocolates made for Valentine's Day was produced by Richard Cadbury in the 1800s.
13. A common symbol of Valentine's Day is Cupid. He is the Roman god of desire, erotic love and affection. He was originally depicted as a young man who would sharpen his arrows on a grindstone whetted with blood from an infant, but nowadays is commonly depicted a cute baby. This change happened during the Victorian era when business owners wanted to promote the day as more appealing and suitable for women and children.
14. During the ancient Roman festival Lupercalia (precursor to Valentine's Day), two boys would run through crowds of people swinging strings made from goatskins. If the strings touched a girl, it was believed she would bear healthy children. The goatskins were called Februa, which means make clean and and from which February is derived.
15. A kiss on Valentine’s Day is considered to bring good luck all year.
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