Love is in the air, and if you’re not celebrating Single Awareness Day and listening to ‘Everybody Hurts’, then you’re probably out celebrating Valentine’s Day.  Here are some facts about V-Day that not many people know.

1. One of the most well known stories about Valentine’s Day’s origins are that while Emperor Claudius II didn’t want his Roman warrior men to marry during wartime because he was afraid his men would want to stay home with their wives.  Bishop Valentine went against the law and performed secret ceremonies for these soldiers.
2. The first believed Valentine’s Day Card was from the Duke of Orleans to his wife.  He wrote a poem for his wife.  Now, around 180 million cards are sold during this time and 85% are bought by women.
3. Although roses are a symbol of love, hope your beux doesn’t give you a yellow rose, because that rose signifies friendship.  $403 million dollars in revenue accumulate around this time for domestically cut flowers from the 24,600 florists nationwide.  Even though these numbers are high, flowers only make up 34.3% of the gifts given out on the Lover’s Holiday.
4. For the singles, you couldn’t always listen to ‘Someone Like You’ by Adele.  In the Middle Ages, the phrase “wear your heart on your sleeve” was coined.  Single men and women would draw a name from a bowl and the name they picked would be their Valentine.  They would wear the name for one week. Unfortunately for the couples, Valentines Day only lasted a day. Unfortunate for those singles, but fortunate or your now modern bank account!