8 Things you probably didn’t know about Valentine’s Day.
Valentine’s Day. The day when everyone wakes up and smells the roses. We all know that this is the day when you celebrate love with your partner. You treat and appreciate each other. We all know that on this day you see an overflow of red, pink, heart-shapes, chocolates and flowers.
But I am willing to bet that you did not know these interesting facts about the day of love:
- The most popular theory about the origin of Valentine’s Day is that Emperor Claudius II didn’t want Roman men to marry during wartime. Bishop Valentine went against his wishes and performed secret weddings. Valentine was jailed and executed for his offense. While in jail he wrote a note to the jailor’s daughter, signing it “from your Valentine”.
- In Victorian times it was considered bad luck to sign a Valentine’s Day card.
- Approximately 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged each year. This makes it the second largest seasonal card sending time of the year.
- It is widely believed that the X symbol became synonymous with a kiss in medieval times. Illiterate people signed documents with an X instead of with their names. The X was then kissed to show their sincerity.
- The red rose was the favourite flower of Venus, the Roman goddess of love.
- Richard Cadbury produced the first box of chocolates for Valentine’s Day in the late 1800s. He gave chocolates to his beloved in a heart-shaped box.
- The expression “wearing your heart on your sleeve” hails from the Middle Ages. There was a Roman festival held annually in honor of Juno. Men would draw names from a bowl to determine who would be their potential sweetheart. They would then pin the name to their sleeve and wear it for the remainder of the festival.
- On average 220 000 wedding proposals take place on Valentine’s Day each year.
