What You Probably Didn’t Know About Valentine’s Day

Here are some things about Valentine’s Day you may not have known.

St. Valentine is the patron saint of lovers and engaged couples.  He’s also the patron saint of travelers, young people, plague, bee keepers and epilepsy – something he was believed to have had.

Teachers receive the most Valentine’s Day cards, followed by children, mothers and wives.  Elementary
school kids exchange more than 650-million Valentine’s Day cards each year.

Americans spend $277-million a year on Valentine’s Day cards.  That’s second only to Christmas.

Richard Cadbury introduced the idea of a box of chocolates for Valentine’s Day in the late 1800’s.

Nearly 189-million roses are given as gifts on Valentine’s Day each year.

A kiss on Valentine’s Day is considered good luck for the entire year.

The post office in Loveland,  Colorado processes more than 300,000 Valentine’s Day cards each year with a special heart stamp cancellation.

In 2010, 39,897 people in Mexico City must have had good luck all year because they set the record for the largest group kiss.  A kiss on Valentine's Day is considered good luck for the year.

Japan has a different custom for Valentine’s Day.  It’s the women who buy Valentine’s Day chocolates for the men – kind of a day for the women to say to a guy “I’m interested.”  A month later, on March 14^th on what’s called White Day, the men respond if they’re interested.  It almost sounds like Dyngus Day with the pussy willows and the sprinkling of water.

Beginning last year, Iran banned anything to do with Valentine’s Day – cards, gifts, candy, teddy bears.  And some people in India and Pakistan protest Valentine’s Day because they say it’s a day when Western culture
satisfies its lust for sex.

You know those conversation hearts candies?  They have a shelf life of five years.

Famous people born on Valentine’s Day include Jack Benny, Jimmy Hoffa, New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg, former Bills quarterbacks Jim Kelly and Drew Bledsoe, and former Sabres defenseman Richard Smehlik.

SOURCE: randomhistory.com