Happy Valentine’s Day from Minnesota Monitor!

Happy Valentine’s Day! Today we celebrate love, true love, that lasts forever, and ever…well, actually, that’s from The Princess Bride. Still, it’s a day to celebrate love, so how better to impress your true love than with some Valentine’s Day Trivia?

• The origin of St. Valentine’s Day is unclear. In some stories, St. Valentine secretly wed couples in defiance of an order from Emperor Claudius of Rome. In others, he was said to have been imprisoned in Roman prison, and to have sent friends letters telling them he loved them.

• Indeed, it’s likely that these stories were made up after the fact. After St. Valentine was martyred, the church established his feast day on Feb. 14, the day before the pagan love festival Lupercalia. In an attempt to eliminate the pagan holiday — but still keep the celebration of love — Pope Gelasius moved the celebration to the same day as St. Valentine’s feast day, and made Valentine the patron saint of love.
• 110 million roses will be distributed on or around Valentine’s day this year. Most will be red.
• 15 percent of women have sent themselves flowers on Valentine’s Day.
• 73 percent of Valentine’s Day flowers are purchased by men, and — obviously — 27 percent are purchased by women. However, men are not averse to receiving flowers as a gift. 61 percent of men say they would like to receive flowers from a significant other.
• Approximately 1 billion cards will be exchanged this holiday, second only to Christmas.
• 50 percent of Valentine’s Day cards are purchased the week of the holiday.
• While 79 percent of gifts purchased by men for Valentine’s Day are for significant others, only 33 percent of gifts purchased by women are. Most of women’s gifts go to parents, friends, and children.
• The first candy conversation hearts were manufactured by the NECCO company in 1866. Approximately eight billion will be sold this year.
• 35 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate will be exchanged today.
• 3 percent of pet owners will give a Valentine’s Day gift to their pets.
• Today would have been Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s thirteenth anniversary, had they stayed married.
• Valentine’s Day is celebrated only in North America, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia.
• The Italian city of Verona receives 1,000 letters addressed to Juliet, half of the famous Shakespearian couple, each Valentine’s day.
• The oldest known love poem dates from ca. 2035 B.C.E. in Sumeria, on a clay tablet identified as “Istanbul #2461″ by archaeologists. It was recited by a bride of King Shu-Sin of Sumeria.
• In the middle ages, it was believed that the first unmarried person one would meet on Valentine’s Day would be one’s spouse. This proves two things. First, standards in the middle ages were somewhat lower than they are now. And second, if you’re single and not looking to marry right now, maybe you are better off staying home and in bed all day.

Happy Valentine’s Day!