15 Unknown Facts about Valentine's Day

Millions of people celebrate Valentine’s Day on 14 February every year – but just how much do you actually know about the celebration and how it got started? How it became so popular? Was it always about love and good feelings?

From its bloody origins to its sweet, chocolaty modern day traditions, here are 15 unknown facts about Valentine’s Day.

 

1.

It has some pretty dark roots. Historians believe Valentine's Day actually began in Ancient Rome as a pagan fertility festival called Lupercalia, which included sacrificing animals and whipping women with animal skins until they bled, signifying their fertility. 

2.

The holiday was Christianized — no more animal sacrifices! — and was celebrated in mid-February because many believed that birds started their mating season on February 14, which is why doves are often associated with love.

3.

In fact, he might have been two or three. But the most common "founder" of Valentine's Day was the Saint Valentine who defied Emperor Claudius II. At the time, Claudius had banned marriage because he thought it distracted young soldiers. Valentine felt a bit differently — he illegally married couples until he was caught. After he was sentenced to his death, young couples would visit his cell and give him flowers and cards.  

 

4.

But not until the 17th century did people start exchanging cards and letters. And Valentine's Day cards weren't mass-produced until the 1840s.

5.

About 1 billion Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged each year. This makes it the second largest seasonal card-sending time of the year.

 

6.

Followed by chocolate and then jewellery. Americans send more than 220 million roses each year, and as many as six million couples will get engaged on February 14. (February is the second most popular month after December for proposals.)

7.

Girls of medieval times ate bizarre foods on this day to make them dream of their future spouse

 

8.

According to Durex, condom sales rise in February. Sales are almost 20% to 30% higher around Valentine's Day. And maybe not so surprisingly, more at-home pregnancy tests are sold in March than any other month. 

 

9.

Richard Cadbury produced the first box of chocolates for this holiday in the late 1800s. 

 

10.

73 percent of people who buy flowers on this day are men, while only 27 percent are women. 

11.

15 percent of U.S. women send themselves flowers on Valentine's Day.

12.

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

 

 

13.

Teachers will receive the most Valentine's Day cards, followed by children, mothers, wives, sweethearts and pets.

14.

220,000 is the average number of wedding proposals on Valentine's Day each year. 

 

15.

Every Valentine's Day, the Italian city of Verona, where Shakespeare's lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000 letters addressed to Juliet.