This is an updated version of an article originally published on 31 January 2019
Who was Saint Valentine exactly? Saint Valentine of Rome was a temple priest who was executed near Rome by the anti-Christian Emperor Claudius II on February 14 in 269 AD. And what was his crime? St. Valentine helped Roman soldiers marry when they were forbidden to do so by Claudius, who was having trouble recruiting young men for the army and believed it was because men didn't want to leave their wives.
And what about the sweets and chocolate? Every year, more than 36 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolates are sold across the United States. That's about 57 million pounds, or 26 million kgs, of chocolate!
See also: Top 6: The Art of the Kiss
14 February is the second-biggest card giving day of the year, coming in just after Christmas. It is expected that 1 billion cards will be exchanged around the world on Valentine’s Day. Teachers receive the most Valentine’s Day cards, followed by children, mothers, wives and girlfriends. Hallmark was one of the first companies to mass produce a Valentine’s Day card. They first started designing their Valentine’s cards over a century ago, back in 1913.
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The National Retail Federation reported that Americans spent more than $21 billion on Valentine's Day gifts in 2021 alone, which shows that love conquers all even during a pandemic! A large portion of the money is, of course, spent on red roses, which make up more than half of Valentine's Day flower purchases. The only other day that beats Valentine’s Day in floral sales is Mother’s Day.
See also: 10 Artist Couples You Should Know
Of course, we could not forget our four-legged friends. Another statistic from the National Retail Federation states that pet gifts constituted a whopping $1.3 billion of the money spent on Valentine's Day in 2021.
Single on Valentine’s Day? No problem! Around 15% of women send flowers to themselves.
