On Valentine`s Day every year, there are at least 36 million heart shape boxes of chocolates sold. |
On average, men spend double the amount of money on Valentine`s Day gifts than women spend. The average amount a man spends is $130. |
There are enough candy hearts made each year to stretch from Valentine, Arizona to Rome, Italy, and back again. The number of these candy hearts produced is approximately 8 billion. |
There are approximately 50 million roses given on Valentine`s Day around the world. |
Women tend to buy approximately 85% of all the Valentine`s Day cards sold. |
Valentine`s Day is the second most popular day of the year for sending cards, second only to Christmas. |
There are approximately 1 billion Valentine`s Day cards exchanged every year in the U.S. alone. |
Approximately 27 percent of those who buy flowers on Valentine`s Day are women. The other 73% are men. |
The phrase to wear your heart on your sleeve has historical meaning. In the middle ages young people would draw the name of their valentine from a bowl. They had to wear the name on their sleeve for one week. |
Every Valentine`s Day, the Italian city of Verona receives approximately 1,000 letters that have been addressed to Juliet. This is where Romeo and Juliet, the young lovers in Shakespeare`s play, lived. |
The first Valentine`s Day candy box was invented by Richard Cadbury in the late 19th century. |
On Valentine`s Day, 1876, Alexander Graham Bell applied for his telephone patent. |
Cupid is the son of Venus. Venus was the god of beauty and love. |
Approximately 15% of women send themselves flowers on Valentine`s Day. |
In 1537, King Henry the Eighth declared that February 14th was a holiday. King Henry the Eighth had most of his wives executed because they did not give birth to a son. |
At least 9 million people buy their pets a gift on Valentine`s Day. |
In the middle ages, superstition said that if you were single, you would end up marrying the first single person of the opposite sex that you met on Valentine`s Day. |
Penicillin was introduced on February 14th in 1929. |
After St. Valentine was buried, Julia, the daughter of his jailor, planted an almond tree with pink blossoms near his grave. The almond tree today is a symbol of lasting friendship and love. |