Valentine’s Day is named after St. Valentine. He was a Roman priest who performed secret weddings centuries ago. He was executed for refusing to deny Christ in the third century.

St. Valentine is the man who the holiday is named after. He performed secret weddings and started the tradition of Valentine’s Day. The reason the holiday takes place on February 14 is because that is the date that St. Valentine was killed. Pope Gelasius arranged for the Feast of St. Valentine to take place on the 14 in honor of St Valentine since he died that day. It was established in 496 AD.

In the 15th century, a French prisoner in the tower of London, the Duke of Orleans, sent a Valentine greeting to his wife. The first cards were sent in the 18th century, people made them themselves. It was easier for factories to produce Valentine’s Day cards once industrialization became bigger. Cards became more popular in America in the mid 1800s. Halmark made their first Valentine’s Day card in 1913.

Giving flowers to show love originated in Turkey and made it to England by the 18th century. The first Valentine’s chocolate was made by Richard Cadbury who put them into heart shaped boxes to sell. Milton Hershey made the first ‘Hershey kisses’ in 1907.