Valentine's Day or Saint
Valentine's Day is a holiday celebrated on February 14 by many people
throughout the world. In the West, it is the traditional day on which lovers
express their love for each other by sending Valentine's cards, presenting
flowers, or offering confectionery. The holiday is named after two among the
numerous Early Christian martyrs named Valentine. The day became associated
with romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages,
when the tradition of courtly love flourished.
An alternative theory from Belarus states that the holiday
originates from the story of Saint Valentine, who upon rejection by his
mistress was so heartbroken that he took a knife to his chest and sent her his
still-beating heart as a token of his undying love for her. Hence, heart-shaped
cards are now sent as a tribute to his overwhelming passion and suffering.
The day is most closely associated with the mutual exchange
of love notes in the form of "valentines." Modern Valentine symbols
include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure of the winged Cupid.
Since the 19th century, handwritten notes have largely given way to
mass-produced greeting cards. The sending of Valentines was a fashion in
nineteenth-century Great Britain,
and, in 1847, Esther Howland developed a successful business in her Worcester, Massachusetts
home with hand-made Valentine cards based on British models. The popularity of
Valentine cards in 19th-century America
was a harbinger of the future commercialization of holidays in the United States.
The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates those
approximately one billion valentines are sent each year worldwide, making the
day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year behind Christmas. The
association estimates that women purchase approximately 85 percent of all
valentines.
Resource from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine%27s_Day
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