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10 Things You Didn't Know About Valentine's Day
In 1537, England's King Henry VII officially declared Feb. 14 the holiday of St. Valentine's Day.
On average, men shell out $130 each on candy, cards, jewelry, flowers and dates. That’s more than double what women commit to spending.
About 8 billion candy hearts will be produced this year; that’s enough candy to stretch from Rome, Italy to Valentine, Arizona 20 times and back again.
The red rose was the favorite flower of Venus, the Roman goddess of love.
Worldwide, over 50 million roses are given for Valentine's Day each year.
In order of popularity, Valentine's Day cards are given to teachers, children, mothers, wives, sweethearts, and then finally pets.
In Medieval times, girls ate unusual foods on St Valentine's Day to make them dream of their future husband.
Also, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who would be their Valentine.
They would wear this name pinned onto their sleeves for one week for everyone to see. This was the origin of the expression "to wear your heart on your sleeve."
Many believe the X symbol became synonymous with the kiss in medieval times.
People who couldn't write their names signed in front of a witness with an X. The X was then kissed to show their sincerity.
Women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentine cards.
Every Valentine's Day, the Italian city of Verona, where Shakespeare's lovers Romeo and Juliet lived, receives about 1,000 letters addressed to Juliet.
220,000 is the average number of wedding proposals on Valentine's Day each year.