Facts about Valentine's Day

Did You Know?

•  There are different opinions as to who was the original Valentine was, but the most popular theory  dates back to the time of the Roman Empire and the reign of Claudius II, 270 AD. Claudius believed that single men made better soldiers and did not want his men to marry during wartime. Bishop Valentine went against his wishes and performed secret wedding ceremonies. Valentine was jailed and then executed by order of the Emperor on February 14. While in jail, he wrote a love note to the jailor's daughter signing it, "From your Valentine." In any event, in 496 A.D., Pope Gelasius set aside February 14 to honor St. Valentine. Through the centuries, the Christian holiday became a time to exchange love messages and St. Valentine became a patron saint of lovers. In the 1840s, Esther Howland, a native of Massachusetts, is given credit for sending the first Valentine cards. The spirit of love continues as valentines are sent with sentimental verses and children exchange valentine cards at school.

•  The most fantastic gift of love is the Taj Mahal in India. It was built by Mughal Emperor Shahjahan as a memorial to his wife.

• Cupid is a symbol of Valentine’s Day. Cupid was associated with Valentine’s Day because he was the son of Venus, the Roman god of love and beauty.

• The Roman Lupercalia, a celebration of fertility began on February 14th. The date was later borrowed by the early Christians to celebrate a martyr by the name of Valentine.

• Ancient Romans believe that birds mated on February 14th.

• In the middle Ages, people believed that the first unmarried person of the opposite sex you met on the morning of St. Valentine's Day would become your spouse.

• Teachers receive the most Valentine's Day cards, followed by children, mothers, wives, and then, sweethearts. Children between ages 6 to 10 exchange more than 650 million Valentine's cards with teachers, classmates, and family members.

• A single perfect red rose framed with baby's breath is named by some florists as a "signature rose," and is the preferred choice for most for giving on Valentine's Day, anniversaries and birthdays.

• The red rose was the favorite flower of Venus, the Roman goddess of love.

• The oldest surviving love poem till date is written in a clay tablet from the times of the Sumerians, inventors of writing, around 3500 B.C.

•  Verona, the Italian city where Shakespeare's play lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000 letters every year sent to Juliet on Valentine's Day.

• Amongst the earliest Valentine's Day gifts were candies. The most common were chocolates in heart shaped boxes.

•  England's King Henry VIII declared February 14th a holiday in 1537 for the first time.

• Alexander Graham Bell applied for his patent on the telephone, on the Valentine's Day, 1876.

• On February 14, 1779, the natives of Hawaii murdered Captain James Cook the great English explorer and navigator.

• Casanova, well known as "The World's Greatest Lover," ate chocolate to make him virile.

• Physicians of the 1800's commonly advised their patients to eat chocolate to calm their pining for lost love.

• Richard Cadbury produced the first box of chocolates for Valentine's Day in the late 1800's. 

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