Valentine’s Day 2027

Valentine's Day, on February 14, is a celebration of love. People exchange cards, flowers, chocolates and small gifts with romantic partners, and in many countries also with friends, classmates and family members.

The day takes its name from Saint Valentine, an early Christian martyr. Over the centuries it grew from a religious feast into one of the most widely celebrated days of affection in the world.

Little is known for certain about Saint Valentine. Several early martyrs carried the name, and legends describe a priest in third-century Rome. The link between February 14 and romantic love first appears in the 14th century, in the poetry of Geoffrey Chaucer, at a time when people believed birds began to pair in mid-February.

By the 18th century, lovers in England exchanged handwritten notes on the day. Printed cards became popular in the 19th century, and in the United States Esther Howland began selling mass-produced, lace-decorated valentines in the 1840s.