14 February 2010 is a Sunday!
Valentine's Day or Saint Valentine's Day is a holiday celebrated on February 14. In the
West, it is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other by sending
Valentine's cards, presenting flowers, or offering confectionery. The holiday is named after
two among the numerous Early Christian martyrs named Valentine. The day became associated with
romantic love in the circle of Geoffrey Chaucer in the High Middle Ages, when the tradition of
courtly love flourished.
The day is most closely associated with the mutual exchange of love notes in the form of
"valentines". Modern Valentine symbols include the heart-shaped outline, doves, and the figure
of the winged Cupid. Since the 19th century, handwritten notes have largely given way to mass-produced
greeting cards. The sending of Valentines was a fashion in nineteenth-century Great Britain, and,
in 1847, Esther Howland developed a successful business in her Worcester, Massachusetts home with
hand-made Valentine cards based on British models.
The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines are
sent each year worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year
behind Christmas. The association estimates that women purchase approximately 85 percent of
all valentines.
- Extracts from Wikipedia's Valentine's Day.