Interesting Valentine's Day Facts

St. Valentine's Day falls on February 14th of each year. Although the name is Saint Valentine's Day, most people refer to the day as Valentine's Day, or even the Feast of Saint Valentine.

It was originally a day to celebrate Saint Valentinus, who performed weddings for soldiers who were not allowed to marry. He was imprisoned for this, as well as for ministering to Christians. 

Saint Valentinus wrote a letter to the daughter of his jailer before he was executed. His letter was signed ‘From your Valentine'. He was buried on February 14th. Valentine's Day was not associated with romantic love until the middle ages. 

By the 1700s in England it began to resemble the Valentine's Day we know today. At this time lovers began to express their love with gifts of flowers, candy and cards, which were called 'valentines'.

Here are some facts you probably didn’t know about Valentine’s Day

St. Valentine wasn’t just one person

It is popular knowledge that Valentine’s Day was named after its patron saint, St. Valentine — but according to History.com, there is some confusion surrounding which St. Valentine the holiday actually honours.

According to it, there are at least two men named Valentine who could’ve inspired the holiday.
One is the Valentine who was a priest in 3rd century Rome. As the story goes, he defied Emperor Claudius II’s ban on marriage, who thought it distracted young soldiers, illegally marrying couples in the spirit of love until he was caught and sentenced to death.

Another legend suggests that the other Valentine was killed for attempting to help Christians escape prison in Rome, and that he actually sent the first “valentine” message while imprisoned, writing a letter signed, “From your Valentine.”

Valentine’s Day is rooted in ancient pagan festivals
While some historians believe that Valentine’s Day commemorates the death of St. Valentine on February 14, others believe that the holiday actually has its origins in a pagan fertility festival called Lupercalia which was celebrated on February 15 in ancient Rome. The day was celebrated by sacrificing animals and smacking women with animal hides, a practice that was believed to encourage fertility.

Valentine’s Day wasn’t romantic until the 1300s
Towards the end of the 5th century, a Roman Pope, Gelasius, officially declared February 14 St. Valentine’s Day. But it wasn’t until the Middle Ages that the holiday became associated with love and romance, a tradition that first started from the common belief in France and England that birds started their mating season on February 14.

The Victorians began the trend of giving flowers for Valentine’s Day
Red roses as a symbol of romance date back to ancient Rome— it was the favourite bunch for Venus, the Roman goddess of love, according to legend. However, it wasn’t until the Victorian era that men really began giving the flower to women they were wooing

The first known valentine was sent in the 15th century
The oldest record of a valentine being sent, according to History.com, was a poem written by a French medieval duke named Charles to his wife in 1415. Charles penned this sweet note to his second wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London at just 21 years old. One of the lines in the poem? “I am already sick of love, My very gentle Valentine.”

Valentine’s Day chocolate was a stroke of marketing genius by Cadbury in 1861
The son of the manufacturer of Cadbury Chocolate, Richard Cadbury, created the first known heart-shaped box of chocolates in an effort to drive up sales for the family business. From that first Valentine’s Day box sold in 1861 grew an industry that now counts some 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate sold annually, countryliving.com said.

Valentine’s Day is florists’ busiest day of the year.
According to the Society of American Florists, Valentine’s Day is every florist’s busiest day ahead of Christmas and Mother’s Day in terms of number of purchases and the majority of the flowers sold on this day are red roses.

Other facts include; 

-On average, men spend double the amount of money on Valentine`s Day gifts than women spend. -The average amount a man spends is $130.

-Women tend to buy approximately 85% of all the Valentine`s Day cards sold.  

-Valentine`s Day is the second most popular day of the year for sending cards, second only to Christma

-Approximately 27 percent of those who buy flowers on Valentine`s Day are women. The other 73% are men. 

-On Valentine`s Day, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell applied for his telephone patent.  

-Cupid is the son of Venus. Venus was the god of beauty and love. 

-In 1537, King Henry the Eighth declared that February 14th was a holiday. King Henry the Eighth had most of his wives executed because they did not give birth to a son.