A Brief History of Valentines Day

Valentine's Day as you and I know it probably originated from the ancient belief that birds (particularly lovebirds) began to mate on February 14th.

The 14th was also a designated feast day (until 1969, when it was dropped from the Roman Catholic calendar) to honor two Christian saints (at least one named Saint Valentine) martyred by the Roman Emperor Claudius II Gothicus.

There is a little bit of love stuff in this part, though -- the reason Saint Valentine was killed (beheaded, actually) was that he continued to marry young couples even though Claudius forbade it. Apparently Claudius thought that married soldiers weren't as good as single soldiers.

On top of all that, in ancient Rome, February the 15th was the fertility festival (Lupercalia) in honor of the pastoral god Lupercus.

It is said that when Saint Valentine went to his execution he left a note to his love and signed it
"From Your Valentine." and that is how our modern day greetings began.

Through the centuries it all kind of got merged together, and the modern Saint Valentine's Day is a day dedicated to lovers, a time to exchange sentimental greeting cards and mushy words of never-ending adoration.