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Valentine's Day, or St Valentine's Day, is celebrated every year on 14 February.

It's the day when people show their affection for another person or people by sending cards, flowers or chocolates with messages of love.

Who was St Valentine? The day gets its name from a famous saint, but there are several stories of who he was.The popular belief about St Valentine is that he was a priest from Rome in the third century AD.Emperor Claudius II had banned marriage because he thought married men were bad soldiers. Valentine felt this was unfair, so he broke the rules and arranged marriages in secret.When Claudius found out, Valentine was thrown in jail and sentenced to death.There, he fell in love with the jailer's daughter and when he was taken to be killed on 14 February he sent her a love letter signed "from your Valentine".

How did Valentine's Day start? The first Valentine's Day was in the year 496!Having a particular Valentine's Day is a very old tradition, thought to have originated from a Roman festival.The Romans had a festival called Lupercalia in the middle of February - officially the start of their springtime.It's thought that as part of the celebrations, boys drew names of girls from a box. They'd be boyfriend and girlfriend during the festival and sometimes they'd get married.Later on, the church wanted to turn this festival into a Christian celebration and decided to use it to remember St Valentine too.Gradually, St Valentine's name started to be used by people to express their feelings to those they loved.

 Who was St. Valentine?

1. What three things do people often send on Valentine’s Day?
2. What job did St. Valentine do, where did he live and when was he alive?
3. Why did Emporer Claudius ban marriage?
4. Why was Valentine sent to prison?
5. What was the name of the original Roman festival?
6. In what year was the first Valentine’s Day?
7. What did boys do as part of the Roman festival?
8. Who decided to turn this festival into the Valentine’s Day festival?

Valentine’s Day in other countries

While most countries celebrate with traditional gift giving and time with Valentines, people all over the world celebrate in other ways as well. Valentine’s Day was first concentrated in Anglican countries, but now the holiday is celebrated all over the world.

• Jack Valentine is a folk character in Norfolk who leaves presents on doorsteps for children.

• In Slovenia, the holiday is also associated with agriculture, as it is considered the beginning of spring. This may have something to do with the connection between agriculture and love in terms of fertility, which were connected hundreds of years ago with the pagan festival. It is often the first day that workers head back to the fields, and many proposals occur in these fields.

• Latin America also refers to the day as “Día del Amor y la Amistad,” or the Day of Love and Friendship. It is distinct in the way that the holiday honors friends as well as lovers. However, the holiday in Latin America is typically celebrated in June due to the February 14th date’s proximity to Mardi Gras related celebrations. Finland also celebrates a similar “Friend’s Day” on Valentine’s Day.

• In other Scandinavian countries, the holiday is largely an American and commercial influence, mostly promoted by the flower and candy industry in order to stimulate sales.

• In China, men typically give sweethearts flowers and chocolates, but due to its proximity to the Lunar New Year, it is celebrated later in the year.

• South Korean tradition has women giving men chocolate on February 14 and men giving women a different type of candy on March 14. Black Day, on April 14th, has those who did not receive anything celebrate their loneliness by eating black noodles. 

• Valentine’s Day in Japan centers solely on giving chocolate due to advertisement by chocolate companies. These companies make much of their profit during this time of year.

• In many Middle-Eastern Islamic countries, the celebration of Valentine’s Day or the sale of Valentine’s Day-related merchandise is banned, believing that the holiday encourages behavior that is not in line with Islamic beliefs. However, the practice of exchanging flowers is gaining popularity in Pakistan despite discouragement from political and religious leaders.