It’s valentines day. Love or the intense desire to feel loved is in the air. There is no definitive origin of Valentine’s Day. It’s possible that it was a Roman fertility festival. Another legend assigns the holiday to commemorate St. Valentine, a Roman clergyman. St. Valentine was executed on February 14, about 270 AD, for marrying couples against the mandate of the emperor.

On this day, girls get chocolates and flowers, guys get electronics and sports tickets, stores make tons of money, restaurants make a killing, and everybody is happy! Condom sales are sky high and statistically, at-home pregnancy  test sales reach their zenith in the month following Valentine’s Day as the  consequences of all those romantic couplings are realized. I like valentines day because I believe that any day dedicated to love is one more day where we don’t think about hate and pain.

While most women consider Valentine’s Day to be a celebration of love and  intimacy, many men consider it nothing more than an artificial holiday cooked up  by the floral and greeting card industries. While the reality might rest  somewhere in between, a few interesting statistics prove that February 14 is a  significant day. However, exactly what makes it significant may surprise you.

Did You Know? * It’s estimated that 2.2 million couples get married each year. That stat came from a 2006 Census Bureau report, but they didn’t have any specific break down about percentage of engagements that take place on Valentine’s Day. I did run across one site that credited the Diamond Information Center with publishing a stat that approximately 10% of marriage proposals will happen on Valentine’s Day.

*Valentine’s Day is one of the most popular days to get engaged, but so is Christmas (figured that), Thanksgiving (surprise), New Year’s Eve (didn’t occur to me), and the bride-to-be’s birthday (I wouldn’t have thought of this one right off, but I have heard of that and it makes perfect sense).

*According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the most popular gift given to celebrate Valentine’s Day is greeting cards. (65%.)

*According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the gift used least to celebrate Valentine’s Day is jewelry. (Only 11%.)

*The United States isn’t the only country to celebrate Valentine’s Day. So does Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, and Australia.

*The first Valentine thought to ever be written dates back to 1415 when Charles, the Duke of Orleans, who was imprisoned in the Tower of London, sent a love letter to his wife. It even still exists. (As part of the British Library’s collection.)

*About 40% of the 180 million Valentine’s cards purchased will be done so by parents. (Now whether this is for their children or by people who have children wasn’t clear, which I thought made it an even more interesting statistic.)

*It’s estimated 15% of women will send themselves flowers on Valentine’s Day.

So armed with all this information, have a HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!

By

Ngo Okafor

The most downloaded black male model actor

African american black male model photo gallery

www.getingo.com