Fun Facts about Valentine’s Day

Did you know …

ELBS students at the 2014 Valentine’s Day Dance

• The oldest surviving love poem was written on a clay tablet from the times of the Sumerians around 3500 BC.
• Not much is known about St. Valentine, but there was more than one.
• One of the St. Valentine’s was sentenced to death around 270 AD because he performed marriages in secret when Roman emperor Claudius II banned marriage for young Roman men. Why was marriage banned? Because Claudius II thought young single men made better soldiers.
• It was during the 1300s that Valentine’s Day became associated with love and romance.
• During Medieval times, girls would eat unusual food on Valentine’s Day to make them dream about their future husband.
• Wearing your heart on your sleeve is more than a phrase.  In the Middle Ages, young

  

  Fun at the Valentine’s Day Dance

  men and women drew names to see who their Valentine would be.  They would wear the name pinned to their sleeve for one week so that everyone would know their supposed true feelings.

• The oldest know Valentine’s Day card is on display at the British Museum in London.  It dates back to the 1400s.
• The first box of chocolates for Valentine’s Day was made by Richard Cadbury in the late 1800s.
• Money can buy love.  Americans spend more than $20 billion on Valentine’s Day.

Happy Valentine’s Day!