Valentine’s Day is the one day that we go all out for that special one we love. We buy cards, flowers, and cards, making it the second-largest holiday for greeting cards. We go out for fancy dinners to celebrate how much we love this individual. But I found some really interesting facts about Valentine’s Day.
- There are many stories of how Valentine’s Day’s originated. The most popular theory of origin is that Emperor Claudius II didn’t want Roman men to marry during wartime. He felt single men made better soldiers. Bishop Valentine went against his wishes and performed secret weddings. For this, Valentine was jailed and executed. While in jail he wrote a note to the jailer’s daughter signing it “from your Valentine.”
- It wasn’t until 1537 that England’s King Henry VII officially declared Feb. 14 the holiday of St. Valentine’s Day.
- Doctors in the 1800s advised patients to eat chocolate to cure their broken hearts.
- The first valentine was sent in 1415 by Duke Charles to his wife.
- The conversation hearts started out as medical lozenges. Boston pharmacist, Oliver Chase invented a machine that simplified the way medical lozenges could be made. He soon started making candy and founded a company called the New England Confectionery Company, or Necco.
- In 1866, Oliver’s brother, Daniel, started printing messages on the candy hearts.
Reference:
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/holidays/valentines-day-ideas/a26863/valentines-day-facts/
https://list25.com/25-interesting-facts-valentines-day/5/