Valentine's Day - 10 Fun Facts You Didn't Know

February 14th, or rather Valentine's Day, holds special significance for most of us. From the homemade cards to the disappointment of not hearing from someone, it is a strange and funny tradition that some take quite seriously. This is the time of anonymous cards, chocolates, champagne and red roses!

Here Are 10 Fun Facts About Valentine's Day:

Valentine the Priest

Historians like to suggest that Valentine was a rebellious priest who, during the reign of Emperor Claudius II secretly went against the royal decree and married young lovers. The emperor had banned young men from marrying, as he believed that single men made the best and most vigilant soldiers. Valentine was found out and sentenced to death for his love crimes. When imprisoned, he fell for the prison officer's daughter and famously closed his last love letter to her "From your Valentine". At some point, February 14th was a day made to honour his commitment to love!

Dream Spouse

During the medieval period, girls would be encouraged to eat certain types of food so they would dream of their future husbands. It was also a widely held belief that the first animal that a girl saw on Valentine's Day would reflect what type of man she would marry. Pretty bad luck if it was a squirrel, I guess? Apparently, a goldfish represented a rich man!

Ring My Bell!

On February 14th 1876, Alexander Graham Bell applied for the patent for his telephone invention! A funny coincidence, maybe?

Red Red Rose

It is often said that the rose became the symbol of love because it is an anagram of Eros, the God of Love!

A Heart-Shaped Box

According to chocolate aficionados, it was Richard Cadbury who first invented a heart-shaped box for Valentine's Day back in 1822! These days around 35 million heart-shaped boxes are sold on this special day for lovers!

Candy Says

Back in 1866, Daniel Chase invented love candies that had inscribed classic love texts like "Miss You", "U & I" and "True Love"! To this day, 8 million sweets are produced for Valentine's Day in this way! Just don't become too ambitious or you'll run out of words. Best to keep it simple in the game of love!

Medicine for Love

Physicians in the 1800s used to offer lovesick patients chocolate as a cure all for any lost love and was seen as the best therapy for all pain and joy! Yes, many of us would happily agree to this type of medicine!

Wear Your Heart on Your Sleeve!

Shakespeare was of course, correct in his use of 'wear your heart on your sleeve' as this action originated back in the middle ages. It was a common tradition to randomly pick the name of a would be suitor from a bowl and then pin this to your sleeve for a week to show your love for them!

Oldest Valentine's Card

It is widely believed that in 1415, none other than the Duke of New Orleans sent the oldest Valentine's Day card with 60 love poems to his French wife when he was arrested and held in the Tower of London! It is believed that this was the first correspondence of this kind.

Sad, Sad Sad!

If you are single and enjoy being a little different then SAD is the celebration for you! Yes, the 'Singles Awareness Day' is a genius alternative to all things red and heart-shaped! You are encouraged to wear green and phrases like" Happy Sad" are common!