On Valentine's Day, most people's thoughts are focused on romance, love objects and gifts. But it is always useful to abstract a little from the amorous euphoria and learn something new and unfamiliar about Valentine's Day. Therefore, on February 14, Bemorepanda offers the top 100 most interesting facts about this holiday.

1. It is customary to celebrate Valentine's Day all over the world on 14 February.

2. This holiday was named in honor of the Martyr Valentine.

3. During the reign of the Roman emperor, Claudius was the priest Valentine.

4. Since 1777, this day has been widely celebrated in the United States.

5. Since the 13th century, this day has been widely celebrated in Western Europe.

6. This holiday is secular in Russia.

7. On Valentine's Day, more than 50 million roses are sold worldwide.

8. On this day, more than 9 million people in the world buy gifts for their pets.

9. Sweets and chocolates are considered the most popular gifts on this day.

10. February 14 became a men's holiday in Japan.

11. In Saudi Arabia and Iran, it is forbidden to celebrate this holiday.

12. The tradition of celebrating this holiday originates from middle England.

13. Postcards are the second most popular after Christmas cards.

14.On February 14, 1929, Al Capone's rival enemies were shot.

15. Women spend on gifts this day half as much as men.

16. Condom sales are high on this day.

17. Duke Charles of Orleans created the first Valentine in 1415.

18. Pigeons are officially considered a symbol of Valentine's Day.

19. Computer Engineer's Day is also celebrated on February 14th.

20. Sales of contraceptives increase by 25% on this day.

21. 2001 was the record for the highest number of marriages.

22. The Day of Mental Health is celebrated by the Germans on this day.

23. More than 75% of suicides on this day are attributed to unhappy love.

24. Once upon a time, lovers exchanged postcards decorated with gold on this day.

25. This day is called sweet in Italy.

26. On February 14, Finland celebrates Women's Day.

27. In France, for the first time, a tradition arose to give poetry on this day.

28. In England, gifts are also given to pets on this day.

29. Handmade gifts are especially appreciated on this day.

30. On February 14 Pope Gelasius declared Valentine's Day around 498 BC.

31. More than 53% of women abandon their men if they come to them without gifts.

32. Richard Cadbury in 1868 presented the first box of chocolate on this day.

33. On this holiday 15% of women give flowers to themselves.

34. About 1 billion cards are sent on this day every year.

35.85% of all valentines are bought by women.

36.39% of all sweets are received by children on this day.

37. In Japan it is customary to give sweets, linen and jewelry on this day.

38. The sale of pregnancy tests in pharmacies is increasing on this day.

39. Flowers presented on this day have different meanings.

40. This day was called "Bird's wedding" in the Middle Ages.

41. In 2011, the world's largest chocolate bar was made in Switzerland, designed specifically for this holiday.

42. The first Valentine's card in the world is kept in the British Museum.

43. In Germany, it is customary to plant onions in a pot on this day with the written name of a loved one. 44. Italian navigator James Cook died in Hawaii in 1779.

45. USA got Texas on this day in 1848.

46.3 Oregon became the 33rd US state in 1859.

47. A third of the seats in the local Diet were won by Ukrainians in the elections in Galicia in 1914.

48. Soviet Russia in 1918 switched to the Gregorian calendar.

49. One of the first computers in 1946 was presented on this day.

50. The XX Congress of the CPSU opened in Moscow in 1956.

51. Into this day, rock and roll music was banned in Iran in 1958.

52. The automatic station "Luna-20" was launched to the Moon in 1972.

53. In Dublin in 1981, 48 people died on this day in a fire.

54. Elton John married Renate Blauel on this day in 1984.

55. The “Declaration on the Principles of Cooperation” was adopted in Minsk in 1992.

56. Russia and Ukraine established diplomatic relations in 1992.

57. The Fundamentals of Ukrainian Legislation on Culture were approved on 14 February 1992.

58. In 1993 Hungary, Poland and Ukraine signed an agreement on cooperation between peoples.

59. On this day in 1998, the wedding of movie star Sharon Stone and the editor of the San Francisco Examiner newspaper Phil Bronstein took place.

60. Dolly the cloned sheep died in 2003.

61. In 2004, 28 people were killed in the Moscow Transvaal Park.

62. Unmarried English girls take this holiday very seriously and responsibly.

63. Annually, about 1000 cards are sent to Juliet.

64. The oldest love poem was written in 3500 BC.

65. The favorite flower of the Goddess of Love was a red rose.

66. Wooden spoons with hearts are customary to give on February 14 in Wales.

67. Traditionally in America, pilgrims sent a variety of sweets as gifts.

68. Two times less money than men spend on gifts for women.

69. The month of pregnancy tests is the month of March.

70. Flower shops earn colossal sums on this day.

71. Heart-shaped candies were the first gifts on this day.

72. Saint Valentine was the patron saint of the mentally ill.

73. In the 15th century, the first valentines appeared in France.

74. The Roman God of love Cupid is the symbol of this holiday.

75. Since the beginning of the 90s of the last century, this holiday has been celebrated on the territory of Russia.

76. It is customary to give hearts from any materials on this day.

77. In England, February 14 is considered the beginning of the mating season for birds.

78. Once upon a time in the United States, one holiday card cost as much as $ 10.

79. Germans decorate psychiatric hospitals with bright ribbons on this day.

80. It is customary to give jewelry on this day in France.

81. Poles on this day visit the relics of St. Valentine.

82. It is customary to give dried white flowers on this day in Denmark.

83. Since the 13th century, this holiday has been celebrated in Western Europe.

84.Since the 1930s, this holiday has been celebrated in Japan.

85. All females are given hearts in Finland.

86. Diamonds are considered the best gift for February 14th.

87. Only 75% of men buy flowers on this day.

88. The origin of this holiday is based on the legend of Saint Valentine.

89. On this day, the feast of fertility was once celebrated.

90. Passionate Spaniards send love letters on this day with carrier pigeons.

91. 6 days before the holiday 50% of all valentines are bought.

92. Valentine is the second most popular among all gifts.

93. A large number of wedding ceremonies take place on this day.

94. Durex is increasing its sales by 30% that day.

95. The symbol of Valentine's Day is a red heart.

96. About 189 million roses are sold in America on this day.

97. After Christmas, this holiday has the second largest number of cards sold.

98. In Mexico City in 2010, the record was set for the most massive kiss in the world.

99. The first time in 1936 the Japanese got acquainted with this holiday.

100. In the Middle Ages, doves were often depicted on valentines.

A person always strives for new knowledge, even if he does not even always realize it. Someone is studying scientific information, and someone is following the heroes of the next reality show. Nobody says that this must necessarily be useful knowledge, because the most important thing is that it is interesting. This is the kind of knowledge Reddit users are trying to give in the Today I Learned thread, sharing a variety of facts. Bemorepanda collected for you 20 of the most interesting and informative facts, and all of them are waiting for you further.

Dogs of Mercy are service dogs trained to comfort mortally wounded soldiers lying in no man's land during World War I.

In 1656, Judith Catchpole, a young maid from the colony of Maryland, was tried for witchcraft and the murder of her newborn child.

In those early days, a judge decided to call a jury composed of women only, who ruled that Judith did not kill her child, and that in fact there was no indication that Judith was pregnant at all.

The youngest hero of the French Resistance during World War II was a little boy

The boy acted as a courier for the Resistance fighters, he sneaked past enemy patrols and transmitted messages. In 1950 he was posthumously awarded the rank of sergeant. The boy's name was Marcel Pinte, he died for France at the age of 6.

Saudi Arabia accidentally printed thousands of textbooks depicting Yoda sitting next to King Faisal when he signed the UN charter in 1945

In the 1830s, the Swedish navy planted 300,000 oak trees to be used for shipbuilding in the future.

When they received the news in 1975 that the trees were fully grown, they hardly ever used them, since modern warships are made of metal.

In 1856, a woman named Mary Ann Brown Patten took over command of a merchant ship after the captain, who was also her husband, fell ill.

After the captain fell ill, the first mate began to sabotage the navigation of the ship in order to take the place of the captain. Mary Ann not only repulsed the attempted rebellion, but also safely returned the ship to port.

French soldier André Parmentier, who served as a military doctor in the French army, was captured by the Prussians in the 1760s during the Seven Years War. During several years of captivity, he was forced to eat only potatoes, which were then fed only to pigs in France.

Feeling that potatoes saved him, he made it his life's goal to convince the world of the nutritional value of potatoes. André Parmentier became famous primarily as an active promoter of potato cultivation as a vegetable crop, and even his grave is decorated with potatoes.

In 1952, London was covered with the so-called Great Smog, which was so strong that pedestrians could not even see their feet

During the 5 days of the Great Smog, about 4,000 people died, but the most interesting thing is that some of them died not because of lung problems - they fell into the Thames and drowned because they did not see the river.

The famous painting "The Scream" by Edvard Munch was painted on cardboard

 If you rub a sea sponge through a sieve into salt water, then it turns into a sponge again

It is the only plant known to do this.

30 years ago, you had 15-17 minutes to evacuate in a fire. Currently you only have 3-5 minutes

This is due to the fact that many things in homes are made of plastics and petroleum-based products. Large rooms and high ceilings also play a role.

There are still those in the USA who live inside the "iron lungs"

Iron Lungs - were applied to polio victims whose lung muscles were paralyzed. The air is pumped in, then pumped out. This causes the patient's chest to expand and contract, forcing air into and out of the lungs.

During the Danish colonization of Greenland, missionary Hans Egede discovered that the local Inuit had no idea what bread was.

Therefore, he changed the words in the prayer "Our Father" from "give us our daily bread this day" to "give us our daily seal this day."

In 2007, a man in a wheelchair was hit by a huge 18-wheel truck

The handles of the stroller were caught in the radiator grille and the truck pushed the man for several kilometers at a speed of almost 100 km per hour. Surprisingly, the man was able to avoid injury.

One of Tchaikovsky's overtures, written in 1812, included cannon firing and cathedral bells, whose sounds should have been synchronized with the sounds of the orchestra

It so happened that in those days it was impossible to synchronize them. It was only in 1954 that composer Antal Dorati mixed the orchestra's studio recording with cannons and bells and the overture finally sounded the way it was intended.

Reagan and Gorbachev agree to suspend the Cold War in the event of an alien invasion

The worst nuclear accident in British history could have ended much worse if not for Sir John Douglas Cockcroft

Cockcroft insisted on installing filters in the mines of the Windscale nuclear power plant. Thanks to the filters, when the accident occurred, the amount of radioactive dust released was reduced by 95%.

If you give a zebrafish fish alcohol and place it in an aquarium with sober zebrafish, the sober fish will accept it as their leader and follow the drunk fish around the aquarium.

A Harvard study found that not having friends is as deadly as smoking

Scientists have found a link between loneliness and blood protein levels that can cause heart attacks and strokes.

In 2012, a survey in East Germany showed that there is not a single person under the age of 28 in this area who believes in God.