February 14th is celebrated as Valentine’s Day in the U.S., Canada, Mexico, France, Australia and the U.K. On this day lovers are not shy about showing their feelings. Did you know that in 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.
Some more interesting facts about love and Valentine’s Day:
• The most recent peak in marriages occurred in 2000 when 157,395 couples took their vows, presumably choosing to marry at the start of the new millennium.
• Statistics Canada reported a total of 147,391 couples tied the knot in 2003, only 653 more than in 2002 and just 773 more than in 2001, according to vital statistics data from the provinces and the territories, which for the first time include limited information on same-sex marriages.
• The “I Love You” computer virus was detected in Hong Kong on May 1, 2000. In four days the virus had mutated into three different generations. Figures by Trend Micro Inc. showed that “I Love You” had infected 3.1 million computers worldwide.
• The first photograph of a U.S. President was taken on February 14, 1849 by Matthew Brady in New York City. President James Polk was the subject.
• The oldest surviving love poem is written in a clay tablet from the times of the Sumerians, inventors of writing, around 3500 B.C. It was unromantically named Istanbul #2461 by the archeologists who unearthed it.
Depending on which sides of the pendulum your life is traversing, Valentine’s Day can either be a special holiday or simply just another day. Albert Einstein said: “When you sit with a nice girl for two hours, you think it’s only a minute. But when you sit on a hot stove for a minute, you think it’s two hours. That’s relativity.”
Here’s hoping that your Valentine’s Day passes with great joy and pleasure, filled with the warmth of love and friendship.
