It’s 14th of Feb, the day we celebrate as Valentine’s day. On this day we exchange love to each other by various means like cards, gifts, flowers and chocolates etc. Many of us are still curious to know how it started, what was the history behind it?
Well, historian believes that the ancient Roman festival named Lupercalia is considered to be one precursor to Valentine’s Day celebrated from February 13-15. This festival was a purification and fertility ceremony. During this Roman festival, two boys would run through crowds of people swinging the string made of goatskins and if the string touched a girl, it was said that she would have healthy children in future.
One of the most popular theories about valentine’s day origin says that Emperor Claudius II was against the marriage of Roman men during the wartime. Bishop Valentine went to the emperor and performed a secret wedding. For this, Bishop Valentine was jailed and then after executed. When Bishop was in jail, he wrote a note to the jailer’s daughter signing it as “From Your Valentine”. After that, this day was named after him as Valentine’s Day.
10 interesting facts about Valentine’s Day
- On this day Americans spend around $277 million on Valentine cards every year, second only to Christmas.
- Around 1 billion Valentine cards are exchanged each year. This is the second largest seasonal card-sending time.
- On Valentine’s Day 2010, 39,897 people in Mexico City broke the record for the world’s largest group kiss.
- The most popular gift on Valentine’s day is the flower.
- 73 out of 100 people who buy flowers on this day are men, while only 27 of them are women.
- Red roses are considered the flower of love because the colour red stands for strong romantic feelings.
- Lace is commonly used in Valentine’s Day decorations. The word “lace” comes from the Latin laques, meaning “to snare or net,” as in to catch a person’s heart.
- It is said that a kiss on Valentine’s Day can bring good luck all year.
- The condom company Durex revels that condom sales are 20-30% higher around Valentine’s Day.
- Around the world, 220,000 is the average number of wedding proposals on Valentine’s Day each year.
The team of Badhta Bihar wishes, a very happy Valentine. Spread love and peace around you.
