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

73% of people who buy flowers for Valentine’s Day are men, while only 27% are women.

About one billion Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged each year. That’s the second largest card-sending occasion of the year, second only to Christmas.

About 3% of pet owners will give Valentine’s Day gifts to their pets.
During the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week. To wear your heart on your sleeve now means that it is easy for other people to know how you are feeling.

Alexander Graham Bell applied for his patent on the telephone, an “Improvement in Telegraphy,” on Valentine’s Day, 1876.

Cupid, another symbol of Valentine’s Day, became associated with it because he was the son of Venus, the Roman god of love and beauty. Cupid often appears on Valentine cards holding a bow and arrows because he is believed to use magical arrows to inspire feelings of love.

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

Teachers will receive the most Valentine’s Day cards, followed by children, mothers, wives, and then, sweethearts. Children ages 6 to 10 exchange more than 650 million Valentine’s cards with teachers, classmates, and family members.

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.

The Empire State Building in New York City played a prominent role in the movie Sleepless in Seattle. This year, fifteen couples will take (or renew) their vows on the 80th floor of this famous landmark.

Valentine’s Day is big business. Consumers will spend an average of $77 each on Valentine’s Day gifts this year. E-commerce retailers expect to rack up about $650 million in sales of food, candy, flowers, and other Valentine’s Day gifts.

Complied by Bree Johnson
Courtesy of  www.mydearvalentine.com and www.corsinet.com