Fascinating Facts about Valentine's Day

Although St. Valentine’s Day is a well-established American holiday, little is known about the man after whom the day is named. Here are some answers to questions about St. Valentine and his day:

St. Valentine was a priest and physician who lived in Rome during the third century. At that time, Christianity was a persecuted faith and Valentine was imprisoned. When he would not recant his faith, Valentine was put to death on February 14.

According to legend, when Valentine was a priest in Rome, Emperor Claudius II ordered young men not to marry, believing if they did not have wives, they would be more willing to go to war. Moved by compassion for the young lovers, Valentine married them secretly.

February 15 was the date set aside to honor the Roman god, Lupercus. On that day, young women would write love notes and deposit them in a large urn. The young men would take the notes out and then court the women whose messages they had drawn. When Christianity became the official religion of Rome, the church merged the Roman holiday with the martyrdom of St. Valentine on February 14.

Valentines came to the U.S. with the earliest English settlers. John Winthrop, governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, wrote his wife: “February 14, 1629, Thou must be my Valentine.”

Esther A. Howland of Worcester, Mass., developed the first cards in 1847. That year, she sold an amazing $5000 worth of cards. Her fancy valentines made St. Valentine’s Day very popular. Soon other manufacturers were making cards.

In 1993, one billion Valentine’s Day cards were sold.