Some Facts about Valentine’s Day

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1. Lupercalia, a Roman fertility festival that involved feasting and the pairing of young women with men through a lottery, is often considered the precursor to Valentine’s Day.
2. The Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine, all of whom were martyred, contributing to the multiple legends surrounding St. Valentine.
3. The romantic connotations of Valentine’s Day didn’t emerge until the Middle Ages. It was Geoffrey Chaucer who first linked St. Valentine’s Day with romance in his work, “Parliament of Foules”.
4. The Duke of Orleans, Charles, sent the earliest known valentine in 1415 while imprisoned in the Tower of London. Sadly, his wife died before the letter could reach her.
5. The phrase “wearing your heart on your sleeve” may have originated from a Middle Ages tradition where men would draw the names of women who they would be coupled with for the upcoming year, wearing these names on their sleeves.
6. Esther Howland, a young graduate, started a successful Valentine’s Day card business in the 19th century, revolutionized the American greeting card industry.
7. The Victorians popularized the trend of giving flowers on Valentine’s Day, viewing them as a symbol of affection.
8. Valentine’s Day is the busiest day of the year for florists, with millions of flower arrangements being delivered across the globe.
9. While Valentine’s Day originated as a feast day for St. Valentine, it has largely lost its religious connotations and is now primarily a secular celebration of love.
10. The tradition of signing a valentine with an “X” comes from the Middle Ages. People who couldn’t write their names signed with an “X”, which represented a kiss.
11. An estimated 145 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged annually, making it the second-largest holiday for giving greeting cards.
12. Pet love is also celebrated on Valentine’s Day, with about 25% of pet owners giving gifts to their pets.
13. Oliver Chase, the inventor of candy hearts, originally started his career by producing medicinal lozenges before moving into confectionery.
14. Valentine’s Day is a sweet holiday, with consumers purchasing over 58 million pounds of chocolate and candy.
15. The character Juliet from Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” receives thousands of letters every year from people sharing their stories of love and heartbreak.

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