While some may believe that Valentine’s Day came to be because stores and greeting card companies needed a way to bring in money, it is actually a tradition from thousands of years ago. It began with a Roman festival known as Lupercalia which was later adopted by the Christian church, naming it Saint Valentine’s day. The name came from a religious man named Valentine who was killed because of his marriage gesture during a time period where Emperor Claudius II banned marriage ceremonies in the belief that single men would make better soldiers. Before he was killed, Valentine remained in jail where it is said that beautiful ladies, whom he had married in secret, would come to visit. Some say that they exchanged roses and notes in which he signed, your Valentine.

In the 13th century, the holiday which was determined to be on February 14th, became associated with romance and love. It was once believed that February 14th was the beginning of birds mating season which led to love in the air.

Today, we celebrate this holiday with flowers, candy, greeting cards, chocolate, and more, which is given to our special valentine. These traditions originated in the 17th century in Britain, and were soon brought over to the United States. Americans today spend about four billion on Valentine’s day each year.