When Valentine’s Day rolls around the first thing most people think about is hearts, candy and romance. Kids are excited about exchanging valentine cards with their friends and many adults rush out to buy that special person in their life flowers, cards and gifts to express their love. However, there are a few unbelievable facts about Valentine’s Day that are not well known.
Here are 7 unbelievable facts about Valentine’s Day that you may have never heard of before:
Valentine’s Day Card
1. With the exception of Christmas, more cards are bought and sent out on Valentine’s Day than any other holiday throughout the year. Did you know this fact about Valentine’s Day?
Cards and Gifts Banned
2. Giving Valentine’s Day cards and other gifts was banned in Iran as a way to stop the spread of decadent or corrupt Western culture in their country. Anyone who participates in this holiday could be prosecuted.
Women Give Men Chocolates
3. In Japan, the women give chocolates to the men on Valentine’s Day instead of the other way around. However, on March 14, which is called White Day, the men return the show of affection by giving the women chocolates and other gifts.
Medievial Era
4. During the medieval era, girls would eat a combination of strange foods on Valentine’s Day because they believed it would make them dream about the man they would soon marry. This is definitely an unbelievable fact about Valentine’s day!
Richard Cadbury
5. The first box of chocolates designed for Valentine’s Day was produced near the end of the 1800s by Richard Cadbury. Now this fact about Valentine’s day is well know in the chocolate industry!
“wear your heart on your sleeve”
6. It’s believed this next fact about Valentine’s Day where the phrase “wear your heart on your sleeve” actually originated during the middle ages. During this time the names of girls were put into a bowl and the boys would draw a name from it. The name of the girl he drew would be his valentine. He would then pin it to his sleeve for a week for everyone to see.
A Man Named Saint Valentine
7. One of the most unbelievable facts about Valentine’s Day is where it originated. You would think its origins would revolve around love and romance but the opposite seems to be true. A popular and perhaps the most reliable belief is that it originated somewhere around 469 A.D. During this time Pope Gelasius declared this day a holiday to honour a man named Saint Valentine.
However, there were three Catholic martyrs named Saint Valentine and no one knows for sure which one history is referring to. One was a priest and one was a bishop. One secretly married Roman soldiers during wartime when it was forbidden and the other openly professed Christianity. Very little is known about the third but all three men were imprisoned and executed on February 14 for disobeying the orders of Emperor Claudius II. Regardless of which man this holiday honours, Saint Valentine’s Day had a sad beginning.
Did you like our 7 Unbelievable Facts about Valentine’s Day? Do you have any to share with us? Comment below!
Haven’t heard of a few of these, really interesting, haha thanks for sharing. I will tell them to my friends.
That is a sad origin for the beginnings of Valentine’s Day. At least we can now make it about love for one another.