Every February across the country, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones all in the name of St. Valentine. Valentine's Day started in the time of the Roman empire. In ancient Rome, February 14th was a day to honor Juno. Juno was the Queen of the Roman Gods and Goddesses. The Romans also knew her as the Goddess of women and marriage.

Historians believe that Valentine's Day originated from an ancient Roman feast called Lupercalia. The Romans worshipped a god called Lupercus, a protective deity who kept wild wolves from overrunning the city. The festival held to honor Lupercus was held on February 15 and was celebrated as a spring festival (the calendar was a bit different in those days). The Lupercalia celebration went on as before for many years following the death of Valentine.

As time passed Christianity became more and more firmly established, and at some point the Romans renamed the pagan feast of Lupercalia for Valentine, who by that point had been canonized to become St. Valentine. The 14th was also a designated feast day (until 1969, when it was dropped from the Roman Catholic calendar) to honor two Christian saints (at least one named Saint Valentine) martyred by the Roman Emperor Claudius II Gothicus. The reason Saint Valentine was killed (beheaded) was that he continued to marry young couples even though Claudius forbade it. Apparently Claudius thought that married soldiers weren't as good as single soldiers. History tells us the first modern valentines date from the early years of the fifteenth century. The Young French Duc d'Orleans was captured at the battle of Agincourt and kept a prisoner in the Tower of London for a number of years. The duke wrote a series poems to his wife from captivity. About sixty of them remain and can be seen among the royal papers in the British Museum.