Approximately 1 billion Valentine's Day cards are sent each year.

85% of all Valentine cards are sent by women.

The Italian city of Verona, where Shakespeare's lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000 letters addressed to Juliet every Valentine's Day.

Amnat Puttigo of Pattaya, Thailand, won a "Ripley's Believe It or Not" by holding his wife in his arms for 10 hours 49 minutes and 15 seconds in Valentine's Day Contest!

15% of U.S. women send themselves flowers on Valentine's Day.

About 3% of pet owners will give Valentine's Day gifts to their pets.

Cupid is a figure from Roman Mythology, believed to use magical arrows to inspire feelings of love

Ancient Romans believed that birds mated on February 14th

Over 90% of Valentine's Day flowers are purchased by men.

Historians claim that the first valentine was a poem sent in 1415 by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London at the time.

In the United States, Miss Esther Howland is given credit for sending the first Valentine's Day cards. Commercial valentines were introduced in the 1880's

Richard Cadbury invented the first Valentine's Day candy box in the late 1800's.

In Japan St. Valentine's Day is a day when women give the special men in their lives boxes of chocolate. To balance the practice, White Day was invented by the confectionary industry for men to reciprocate such gifts. White Day, celebrated one month later on March 14, is purely a Japanese creation.

In the United States 64 percent of men do not make plans in advance for a romantic Valentine's Day with their sweethearts.

Hundreds of years ago in England, many children dressed up as adults on Valentine's Day. They went singing from home to home. One verse they sang was:
Good morning to you, valentine;
Curl your locks as I do mine---
Two before and three behind.
Good morning to you, valentine.

The expression "wearing your heart on your sleeve" comes from a Valentine's Day party tradition. Young women would write their names on slips of paper to be drawn by young men. A man would then wear a woman's name on his sleeve to claim her as his valentine

In Wales wooden love spoons were carved and given as gifts on February 14th. Hearts, keys and keyholes were favourite decorations on the spoons. The decoration meant, "You unlock my heart!"

Kelly: Galafun