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A History of Valentine's Day

by Ryleigh Deal & Kaden Gilbert

Ryleigh:  Most people assume the Valentine’s Day tradition came from someone far in the past confessing their love for some girl.  Actually, it came from the Saint Valentine of Valentine's Day, who was one of two guys preaching The Good Word in Rome in the third century. Essentially, the two men began spreading kind words to everyone, and over time it evolved to people confessing their love to their crushes. In a nutshell, that’s how Valentine’s Day became the popular holiday we celebrate today.

Kaden:  February 14th, or Valentine's Day, is known as the day of love. Most people celebrate Valentine's Day by giving their partner jewelry, flowers, stuffed animals, candy, or even going on a simple date to the coffee shop. But did you know that Valentine's Day actually has a pretty dark history? During the days of February 13th through 15th, the Romans celebrated a day called "The Feast of Lupercalia." On The Feast of Lupercalia, the men sacrificed goats and dogs, then whipped the women with the hides of animals they had just slain. Noel Lenski, a religious studies professor at Yale University, told NPR in 2011 that young women would line up for the men to hit them. According to Lenski, they believed it would help them have children.