Valentine's Day is celebrated in the U.K., the U.S., Canada,
Mexico, France, and Australia and the U.K., but in no other countries. Still, the Italian
city of Verona, where Shakespeare's lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000
letters addressed to Juliet every February 14th.
Chinese Valentine's Day celebrated not on February 14, but on the
seventh day of the seventh month of the Chinese lunar calendar.
The oldest known Valentine was
sent in 1415 by Charles, the Duke of Orleans, to his French wife from his orison cell in
the Tower of London. It is still displayed in an English museum.
About 1 billion
Valentine's Day cards are exchanged each year. That's the largest seasonal card-sending
occasion of the year, next to Christmas.
Teachers
receive the most Valentine's Day cards, followed by children, mothers, wives, and then,
sweethearts. Children ages 6 to 10 exchange more than 650 million Valentine's with
teachers, classmates, and family members.
Studies show
about 65 percent of men do not make plans in advance for a romantic Valentine's Day with
their sweethearts.
About 3% of pet
owners will give Valentine's Day gifts to their pets.
Approximately 110 million roses,
mostly red, are sold and delivered in the U.S. within a three-day time period before
Valentine's Day.
One single red rose framed
with baby's breath, called by florists a "signature rose," is the preferred
choice for many to give on Valentine's Day.
During the Middle Ages,
people believed birds chose their mates on St. Valentine's Day and boys and girls might do
the same.
Some people once believed,
if a woman saw a robin flying overhead on Valentine's Day, it meant she would marry a
sailor. If she saw a sparrow, she would marry a poor man and be very happy. A goldfinch
would mean a millionaire.
Also in the Middle Ages, young
men and women drew names to see who their valentines would be. They would wear the names
on their sleeves for one week. The phrase "to wear your heart on your sleeve"
may have begun during that period..
By the 17th century, some
believed if a maiden ate a hard-boiled egg and pinned five bay leaves to her pillow before
going to sleep on Valentine's eve, she would dream of her future husband.
