Do you know how Valentine's Day came about? This is a very interesting and romantic story. Valentine's Day is celebrated on February 14 in many countries around the world. It is believed that Valentine's Day has existed for more than 16 centuries, but the holidays of Love are known from even earlier times - from the time of ancient pagan cultures. For example, the Romans in mid-February celebrated a festival of eroticism called Lupercalia, in honor of the goddess of love, Juno Februata. The holiday also has a specific "culprit" - the Christian priest Valentine. This story dates back to about 269, at that time Emperor Claudius II ruled the Roman Empire. The warring Roman army experienced an acute shortage of soldiers for military campaigns, and the commander was convinced that the main enemy of his “Napoleonic” plans was marriage, because a married legionnaire thinks much less about the glory of the empire than about how to feed his family. And, in order to preserve the military spirit in his soldiers, the emperor issued a decree forbidding the legionnaires to marry. But the soldiers did not become less in love because of this. And to their happiness, there was a man who, not fearing the imperial wrath, began to secretly marry the legionnaires with their lovers. It was a priest named Valentine from the Roman city of Terni. Apparently, he was a real romantic, since his favorite pastimes were to reconcile those who quarreled, to help write love letters and, at the request of the legionnaires, to give flowers to the subjects of their passion. Of course, as soon as the emperor found out about this, he decided to stop his "criminal activities". Valentine was sentenced to death. The tragedy of the situation was also in the fact that Valentine himself was in love with the jailer's daughter. The day before the execution, the priest wrote a farewell letter to the girl, where he spoke about his love, and signed it “Your Valentine”. It was read after he was executed. Subsequently, as a Christian martyr who suffered for his faith, Valentine was canonized by the Catholic Church. And in 496, Pope Gelasius declared February 14 to be Saint Valentine's Day. Whether it was so or otherwise, but, apparently, it was from there that it was customary to write love notes on Valentine's Day - “valentines”. And on this holiday they like to arrange weddings and get married. It is believed that this will be the key to eternal love. In Western Europe, Valentine's Day has been widely celebrated since the 13th century, in the USA - since 1777. The tradition of giving gifts on this day has grown stronger every year and for some has become a fairly successful business. For example, at the beginning of the last century, it was customary for Americans to send marzipans to their brides, which were quite expensive. In Japan, the tradition of giving sweets on this day appeared at the suggestion of one large chocolate manufacturing company. They began celebrating Valentine's Day in the 1930s, and chocolate remains the most common gift to this day. By the way, there Valentine's Day is slightly reminiscent of "March 8 for men", since Japanese men receive, perhaps, even more gifts than women: men's accessories such as a razor, lotion, wallet, and so on. And on this holiday they like to arrange weddings and get married. And on this holiday they like to arrange weddings and get married. Passionate French people give jewelry on Valentine's Day, and in romantic Denmark people send dried white flowers to each other. In Britain, unmarried girls on February 14 get up before sunrise, stand near the window and look at the passing men. According to legend, the first man they see is the betrothed. But there are some countries in the world that have especially distinguished themselves in celebrating Valentine's Day. First of all, this is Saudi Arabia, which is the only country in the world where this holiday ... is officially banned, moreover, under pain of heavy fines. Russia had its own Valentine's Day, but it was celebrated not in winter, but in summer, and was associated with the legendary love story of Peter and Fevronia. Today in Russia this day is celebrated as an official holiday - the All-Russian Day of Family, Love and Fidelity. I wish every person to find their love, because each of us has the right to happiness!