Love is in the air!
To celebrate Valentine's Day on February 14th, Do You Really Know, is covering a whole host of subjects linked to love and desire.
From trends like sologamy and sneeting to the emergence of female Viagra.
Spend all week learning about the concepts that surround our love lives in the 21st century.
What is Valentine's Day?
Thanks for asking!
This annual celebration of love and passion needs no introduction.
Among those who partake in Valentine's Day, you've got those who go all out every year, never failing to honour the occasion and make sure everyone knows about it.
Then there are others who prefer a quiet romantic night in with their partner.
At the other end of the scale, some people sulk instead telling anyone who'll listen just how pointless or old-fashioned the whole thing is.
In modern times, Valentine's Day is certainly a highly commercialised holiday but, believe it or not, its origins go back nearly 2000 years and are influenced by pagan and Christian rituals.
So who is this Saint Valentine anyway?
There's not just one, actually.
There are around a dozen Saint Valentines listed in the history of Christianity, three of whom are linked to February 14th.
But one in particular stands out.
Back in the 3rd century, in the year 273 AD, to be precise Saint Valentine of Turney, a bishop was arrested and beheaded by order of Roman Emperor Claudius II.
His crime?
Having secretly performed Christian weddings for couples.
The execution was carried out in mid-February, which may explain the date chosen for Valentine's Day.
Wait a minute, he was executed and now he's celebrated?
Indeed, at the time Christian weddings weren't allowed.
One reason the Emperor had forbidden such unions was so soldiers wouldn't have any excuse not to go fight in wars at his orders.
Nevertheless, Valentine of Turney was later exonerated and became a Christian martyr in the 5th century, when Pope Galatius I canonized him.
From then on, February 14th was more or less recognized as a Christian celebration of love.
How did Valentine's Day traditions evolve from then onwards?
It was in the Middle Ages, a period when love was celebrated in all the arts, that Valentine's Day really started being celebrated.
The date of February 14th was kept in honour of Valentine of Turney, also matching the time of year when birds mate.
In 1496, Pope Alexander VI officially made Saint Valentine the patron saint of love.
But it was mostly at the end of the 19th century that Valentine's Day celebrations started to take off in North America, then in the UK.
It became synonymous with sending love letters and poems, either to one's partner or as a secret admirer.
Legend has it that tradition also came from the original Saint Valentine, who left a note for his jailer's daughter before being executed.
Interestingly, American soldiers helped spread the tradition of Valentine's Day while stationed in Europe during World War II.
So where did red balloons and all the other cheesy stuff come from?
Modern day Valentine's celebrations started picking up in the 1950s thanks to 20th century marketing practices.
That's when traditions like flowers, chocolates and personalised greetings cards appeared.
Since then, Valentine's Day has been one of the most important business days on the calendar.
CNBC recently reported on the amounts Americans were planning to spend on Valentine's Day in 2022.
It quoted surveys with figures between 175 and 210 on average, although that rose to nearly 250 for couples who had been together for less than two years.
There you have it.
Now you know what Valentine's Day is.
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