Eight surprising facts you didn’t know about Valentine’s Day
It’s the day of lovers. Everybody knows this much about Valentine’s Day. Here’s a look into things that you probably didn’t know about this day;
1. Valentine’s Day started as a form of rebellion – Valentine was a priest who defied orders of Emperor Claudius the Second not to marry Roman men. He married them in secret until he was captured and beheaded on February 14th 270 AD giving rise to the celebrations of love on that day.
2. Wearing your heart on your sleeve was once more than just a phrase – In the middle ages, young women and men would draw out names of their intended Valentines from a bowl in the days and weeks leading up to Valentine’s Day. These would be worn on a heart shape on one’s sleeve to pass out the intended message.
3. Women buy most Valentine’s Day gifts – One would imagine that men are the big spenders on Valentine’s Day. Turns out that most Valentine’s Day gifts are actually purchased by women. The percentage of these is a whopping 85 percent. They buy gifts for their loved ones and for themselves.
4. Roses truly are the flowers of love – The Kenyan rose growers are already hard at work taking out flowers for the big day. Globally, at least 50,000 roses will be exchanged on Valentine’s Day. Imagine that. The red rose was also the favorite flower of Venus, the God of love.
5. The oldest Valentines card – The oldest Valentine’s card was sent in 1415. It was sent by the Duke of New Orleans to his French wife. He did this after he was arrested in the tower of London. He wrote down 60 poems for her in this card.
6. It’s also the engagement day – Because of the theme of love, Valentine’s Day is also a very popular choice for men seeking to pop the question. On Valentine’s Day, there are at least 220,000 proposals done worldwide.
7. Why the colour red? – In the earlier ages, it was believed that the heart was the colour of the body that the feeling of love came from. Because the heart was the organ that pumped blood all around the body, its colour was seen as the symbol of love. We now know that the feeling of love is as a result of a chemical reaction but red as the colour of love stuck.
8. There is also a day for singles – Those who don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day, or those who are alone on the said day, also get SAD (Singles Awareness Day). It is set apart as an alternative for single people to enjoy their single status. Instead of red, those celebrating SAD wear green.