The modern Valentine’s Day is a time for friends, a time for family and a 
time for lovers. How did it all begin? The following are some of the origins 
of the celebration which has evolved into Valentine's Day as we know it.

In ancient Rome, February 14th was a holiday in honor of Juno, Queen 
of the Gods and the patroness of women and marriage. The following day,
 February 15th, began the ‘Feast of Lupercalia’.

The Lupercalia Festival was a chance for Roman children, normally kept 
strictly separated, to meet. The boys would each choose a girl’s name 
from a vase. The boy would then partner the girl he had chosen for the
duration of the festival. Sometimes the pairing would last an entire year, 
and often the couple fell in love and married.

Under the rule of Claudius II, Rome became involved in many bloody and
unpopular military campaigns. Claudius the Cruel, as he was known, had
some difficulty raising the armies he needed. He believed that as married 
men, his soldiers wanted to stay at home with their families rather than 
going to war, and so to combat this, he forbade his soldiers from marrying 
or becoming engaged.

An Italian bishop, Valentine, defied the Emperor’s decree, and performed
 clandestine marriage ceremonies. He was eventually arrested, imprisoned 
and put to death on February 14th in the Year 270. He was later declared 
a Saint.

As the influence of Christianity grew in the Roman Empire, Lupercalia was
renamed in honor of Saint Valentine, in recognition of his sacrifice for love.
The pagan connotations of love and fertility have endured, and remain to
this day.

• In 496 AD, St Valentine's Day was declared a day of feasting by 
  Pope Gelasius.
   
• The first Valentine was thought to be sent by a captured French
  Knight in London, after the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, to his 
  wife home in France.
   
• Women during the 1700's hoping to dream of their perfect lover 
  would remove the yolk from a hardboiled egg, fill it with salt and 
  eat it all - shell included!
   
• During the 19th Century the English would choose the first person 
  they met on February 14th as their Valentine.
   
• America was the first country to really establish flowers as gifts 
  on Valentine's Day.
   
• The name "Cupid" comes from the Latin word for desire. The 
  Greeks call this god "Eros" (E-ross), the god of love.
   
• The apple is sacred to "Venus", Roman goddess of love. It has 
  long been associated with love divination.
   
• In Italy there is an old tradition for single woman to awaken 
  before sunrise to keep a look out for any man to pass their
  window. It was believed that they would marry this man or 
  someone similar, within that year.
   
• The old country name for the Daisy is 'measure of love' and it 
  is still one of the most popular love tests. Pick off the white 
  petals of the flower one by one whilst saying alternatively,
  "he loves me, he loves me not'. The last petal will reveal the 
  truth.
   
• ENGLISH: "I love you.      
  SPANISH: (Catalan) "T'estimo molt." (or Basque) "Ni maite zaitut." 
  FRENCH: "Je t'aime ma (mon) cherie." 
  GERMANY: "Ich liebe dich." 
  ITALIAN: "Ti voglio bene."
  JAPANESE: "Anata wa aishiteru."