To take a slight break from the Cold War, I decided to research the history of Valentine's Day. While I found a few different stories about the origins of today, this article seems to do a good job of summing up the various bits and pieces that I found elsewhere.
http://www.history.com/topics/valentines-day
These are two other articles that I found pertaining to the history of Valentine's Day. While they both tell more or less the same story, there are some differences between the two, and with the link above. Does anyone either have a different account of the history of Valentine's Day, or know for sure how it came about? If not, these are just a little bit of fun food for thought.
A rather pessimistic view on Valentine's Day:
http://www.npr.org/2011/02/14/133693152/the-dark-origins-of-valentines-day
An extensive (and possibly less accurate) account of the various aspects or Valentine's Day:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine's_Day
Happy Valentine's Day!
Thanks for the post, Kelli! Taking a look at the history behind tradition is often quite interesting. All I have ever heard about the origin of Valentine's Day is bits and pieces about a Saint Valentine marrying people, as described by the Wikipedia article, so it's nice to see a few more fully fleshed out tales. Learning more about the role of Lupercalia and the actions of popes and emperors in defining the current Valentine's Day made me look at the holiday a bit differently.
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