Celebrated on February 14, Valentines Day is the festival of love birds across the world, irrespective of the nation, caste, religion or creed. Love birds across the nation await this event desperately throughout the year. However the story of its origin is still under blurred sacks. There are different ideas to the way Valentines Day celebration began. Some trace it to Lupercalia, an ancient Roman festival while other experts associate the event with two saints named valentine of the early Christian church. One of them would secretly conduct marriage of couples by disobeying the rule of Roman Emperor, Claudius; while other was a lover of children but, was imprisoned when he would not honor other gods. The children missed him and wrote messages of affection to him through the bars of the cell. This can be considered as the beginning of exchanging messages. Still others link it with an old English belief that love birds choose their mates on February 14. Valentine’s Day probably came from a combination of all the above sources, along the belief that spring is a time for lovers. Read on to find out all interesting facts about this festival.
Fun Facts On Valentine’s Day
- The modern day celebration of Valentines Day is believed to begin in France and England.
- Cupid (symbol for Roman God of love), doves, love birds, roses, hearts and arrows are all symbols of the Valentine’s Day celebration.
- Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine’s Day around 498 A.D.
- In Great Britain, Valentine’s Day began to be celebrated around seventeenth century. By the middle of the eighteenth century, it was common for friends and lovers to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes.
- In Medieval times, girls ate bizarre foods on St Valentine’s Day to dream of their future spouse.
- There was a belief in the Middle Ages that the first unmarried person (of the opposite sex) you met on the morning of St. Valentine’s Day would become your spouse.
- The first Valentine gift was sent by Duke of Orleans to his wife, after he was captured in 1415.
- 73% of Valentine Day flowers are bought by men, whereas women buy only 23% of Valentine flowers.
- Around 3% of pet owners prefer to give Valentine gifts to their pets, as they are more grateful than humans.
- In oden times, some people believed that if a woman saw a robin flying overhead on Valentine’s Day, it meant she would marry a sailor. If she saw a sparrow, she would marry a poor man and be very happy. If she saw a goldfinch, she would marry a millionaire.
- The heart is the most common symbol of romantic love. Ancient cultures believed the human soul lived in the heart and its red color is though to be the most romantic.
- The red rose was the favorite flower of Venus, the Roman goddess of love. Since red stands for strong feelings, red rose is a flower of love.
- The first Valentine’s Day box of chocolates was introduced by Richard Cadbury in 1868.
- In Wales, wooden love spoons were carved and given as gifts on Valentine’s Day. Hearts, keys and keyholes were favorite Valentine decorations on the wooden spoons that meant, “You unlock my heart!”
