Who and why did our current valentine's day get started?
94249
Hallmark wanted to make more money, so they invented it.
46500
Valentine's Day falls on February 14, and is the traditional day on which lovers in certain cultures let each other know about their love, commonly by sending Valentine's cards, which are often anonymous. The history of Valentine's day can be traced back to an obscure Catholic Church feast day, said to be in honor of Saint Valentine, are discussed below. The day's associations with romantic love arrived after the High Middle Ages, during which the concept of romantic love was formulated.\n\nThe day is now most closely associated with the mutual exchange of love notes in the form of "valentines." Modern Valentine symbols include the heart-shaped outline and the figure of the winged Cupid. Starting in the 19th century, the practice of hand writing notes has largely given way to the exchange of mass-produced greeting cards. The Greeting Card Association estimates that, world-wide, approximately one billion valentine cards are sent each year, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year behind Christmas. The association also estimates that women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines
110401
:}\nValentines Day wouldn't be the same without a visit from Cupid, the winged cherub with a bow and arrow which he uses to place people into love.\nThe origins of Cupid can be traced back to the days of the Roman Empire. Cupid is a Roman God, the symbol of passionate love. (He is the son of Venus, who remember is the Goddess of Love.) Cupid fell madly and completely in love with Psyche, whom it happened was a mortal. This did not please Venus at all and she gave Psyche a particularly hard time, consistently tempting her and driving her off. Eventually, through a small series of human faults, Psyche was tempted to look into the ‘box of beauty’ and when she did, she unleashed a deep slumber onto herself. Cupid then came to Earth and searched the world for her. He found her in her deep sleep. His love for her was so strong though that he was able to take the sleep from her and place it back into the box. Then he used an arrow to pierce her heart and awaken her.
150438
*sigh*\n\nOk call me a fuddy duddy. But I guess I just don't feel that love should be celebrated on this one day because we are supposed to. Love should be shown every day. I sooooooooo prefer someone doing something for me spontaneously on some odd day just cause they so want to, instead of because they feel obligated to. Soooo, I plan on ignoring the day........and surprising someone I truly care about when he least expects it. It's just so much more meaningful that way! *sorry for being a little poopy head when it comes to Valentine's day**
100724
you are their special someone on valentine's day.
90144
i'm a store manager so i had to work on valentine's day evening, so my boyfriend and i didn't get to go out. the store was so busy, and he kept calling, but i couldn't pick up. i was at the counter helping costumers when i started hearing some of the employees calling me and screaming so i went to see what was going on. he had brought 48 orchids, a huge teddy bear with my name written on it, and he was looking fine as hell. i was so happy and started to cry. he kissed me everyone was clapping, and the employees even told me to go home and enjoy myself. i couldn't ask for a better valentine's day...
95380
I think we celebrate Valentine's day because if you didn't show your love for that one special person every other day of the year, then February 14th is the day to do it.  Showing you love or like somebody, to me, is the best thing to get or give as a gift because at least you know that somebody is thinking about you.
154023
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine%27s_Day#History_of_Valentine.27s_Day
423733
20th february, 1986\njust 6 days after VALENTINE`s day
1147299
Depends which one. There were at least three different Saint Valentines, all of them martyrs, and are mentioned in the early martyrologies under date of 14 February. One is described as a priest at Rome, another as bishop of Interamna (modern Terni), and these two seem both to have suffered in the second half of the third century . In the Middle Ages what was known to the ancients as the Flaminian Gate of Rome and is now the Porta del Popolo, was called the Gate of St. Valentine. Of the third Saint Valentine, who suffered in Africa with a number of companions, nothing is known so far. \n\nAs for St. Valentine's Day, it had their origin in a conventional belief generally received in England and France during the Middle Ages, that on 14 February, i.e. half way through the second month of the year, the birds began to pair.  For this reason the day was looked upon as specially consecrated to lovers and as a proper occasion for writing love letters and sending lovers' tokens. Both the French and English literature of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries contain allusions to the practice. So basically, it was a custom that coincided with St Valentine's Day, and out of ignorance associate it with the Feast Day, when all it is is a coincidence.
516280
have a date ... start dating them
100538
Dear sweaty, I am all yours.\n\nDont worry If this year, you didnt celebrate your Valentine. I am sure next year & the rest of years you will have it for sure...!  :)\n\nCome on ..and celebrate the valentine day with me ONLINE. \n\nAny Info Please E-mail me on Bronzi_1980@yahoo.com.\n\nGood Luck
146705
No, not really (playing devils advocate here) \n\nI have seen about 10 questions at least asking what to get someone for Valentines Day.  At least all this merchandise gives these people something to give!  I like to buy a big heart box for my husband and little boxes for my kids & maybe a stuffed animal for them and I'm glad these are available!
104567
i feel like valentine day is not fair. i have always had someone to share it with, but i always feel like the day is very depressing for those single people. you have a good point ---- to love everyone and not just your companion. i feel guilty when i have a valentine and some of my friends don't. they shoul make a singles day. haha
172136
http://answers.yahoo.com/search/search_result?p=need+valentine
96127
Valentine's is celebrated on February 14, celebrated in various American and European countries by the exchange of valentines or love tokens.\n\nRoman Roots\nThe history of Valentine's Day is obscure, and further clouded by various fanciful legends. The holiday's roots are in the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, a fertility celebration commemorated annually on February 15. Pope Gelasius I recast this pagan festival as a Christian feast day circa 496, declaring February 14 to be St. Valentine's Day.\n\nValentines Galore\nWhich St. Valentine this early pope intended to honor remains a mystery: according to the Catholic Encyclopedia, there were at least three early Christian saints by that name. One was a priest in Rome, another a bishop in Terni, and of a third St. Valentine almost nothing is known except that he met his end in Africa. Rather astonishingly, all three Valentines were said to have been martyred on Feb. 14.\n\nMost scholars believe that the St. Valentine of the holiday was a priest who attracted the disfavor of Roman emperor Claudius II around 270. At this stage, the factual ends and the mythic begins. According to one legend, Claudius II had prohibited marriage for young men, claiming that bachelors made better soldiers. Valentine continued to secretly perform marriage ceremonies but was eventually apprehended by the Romans and put to death. Another legend has it that Valentine, imprisoned by Claudius, fell in love with the daughter of his jailer. Before he was executed, he allegedly sent her a letter signed "from your Valentine." Probably the most plausible story surrounding St. Valentine is one not focused on Eros (passionate love) but on agape (Christian love): he was martyred for refusing to renounce his religion.\n\nIn 1969, the Catholic Church revised its liturgical calendar, removing the feast days of saints whose historical origins were questionable. St. Valentine was one of the casualties.\n\nChaucer's Love Birds\nIt was not until the 14th century that this Christian feast day became definitively associated with love. According to UCLA medieval scholar Henry Ansgar Kelly, author of Chaucer and the Cult of Saint Valentine, it was Chaucer who first linked St. Valentine's Day with romance.\n\nIn 1381, Chaucer composed a poem in honor of the engagement between England's Richard II and Anne of Bohemia. As was the poetic tradition, Chaucer associated the occasion with a feast day. In "The Parliament of Fowls," the royal engagement, the mating season of birds, and St. Valentine's Day are linked:\n\nFor this was on St. Valentine's Day, \nWhen every fowl cometh there to choose his mate.\n\nTradition of Valentine's Cards\n Over the centuries, the holiday evolved, and by the 18th century, gift-giving and exchanging hand-made cards on Valentine's Day had become common in England. Hand-made valentine cards made of lace, ribbons, and featuring cupids and hearts eventually spread to the American colonies. The tradition of Valentine's cards did not become widespread in the United States, however, until the 1850s, when Esther A. Howland, a Mount Holyoke graduate and native of Worcester, Mass., began mass-producing them. Today, of course, the holiday has become a booming commercial success. According to the Greeting Card Association, 25% of all cards sent each year are valentines.
171500
How about that?\n"Honey, this is the happies Valentine day I had, because I got to share it with you. Before you, no Valentine Day was worth its name for you. I am so happy to spend it with you this time and many times more."\n\nHope that helps.