Valentine’s Day Facts
Updated: Feb 4, 2021 Original: Jan 8, 2019
Learn about St. Valentine's Day origins, how it's celebrated, why we say "wear your heart on your sleeve," and more. Origins to a Bloody Pagan Festival - Letters Addressed to 'Juliet' - Box of Chocolates - First Valentine Was Written From a Prison - ‘Vinegar Valentines’ Discouraged Suitors - ‘Wearing Your Heart on Your Sleeve’ - ‘Sweethearts’ Candies Started Out as Lozenges - Cupid Began as a Greek God - How ‘X’ Came to Mean ‘Kiss’
Valentine’s Day is celebrated every February 14 as couples across the globe honor their spouses, partners and sweethearts. Hundreds of years of traditions and customs have made it into the holiday that we observe today. Here are nine interesting facts about the holiday dedicated to love.
Origins to a Bloody Pagan Festival
Some trace Valentine’s Day origins to a Christian effort to replace a pagan fertility festival that has been dated as far back as the 6th century B.C. During the festival of Lupercalia, Roman priests would sacrifice goats and dogs and use their blood-soaked hides to slap women on the streets, as a fertility blessing. According to legend, women would later put their names in an urn and be selected to be paired with a man for a year.
Letters Addressed to 'Juliet'
Every year, thousands of romantics send letters addressed to Verona, Italy to “Juliet,” the subject of the timeless romantic tragedy, “Romeo and Juliet.” The city marks the location of the Shakespearean tale, and the letters that reach the city are dutifully answered by a team of volunteers from the Juliet Club. Each year, on Valentine's Day, the club awards the "Cara Giulietta" ("Dear Juliet") prize to the author of the most touching love letter.
Box of Chocolates
The Valentine’s Day tradition of giving a box of candy was started in the 19th century by Richard Cadbury, a scion of a British chocolate manufacturing family. With a new technique recently established at the company to create more varieties of chocolate, Cadbury pounced on the opportunity to sell the chocolates as part of the beloved holiday.
First Valentine Was Written From a Prison
History’s first valentine was written in perhaps one of the most unromantic places conceivable: a prison. Charles, Duke of Orleans wrote the love letter to his second wife at the age of 21 while captured at the Battle of Agincourt. As a prisoner for more than 20 years, he would never see his valentine’s reaction to the poem he penned to her in the early 15th century.
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