Today is Valentine's Day, originally the Roman feast of Lupercalia, a celebration of fertility. In 270 A.D. the holiday was Christianized (and the date changed from February 15 to 14) to commemorate the martyred Saint Valentine. By the late Middle Ages, the modern tradition—of exchanging paper love declarations, called 'Valentines'—evolved.
[What I'm Thinking]From the Writer's Almanac by Garrison Keillor
Available by e-mail daily
Monday, February 14, 2005
More on the origin of the day
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