The History Of Valentine ' s Day

The History of Valentine's Day

Every February, across the country, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and why do we celebrate this holiday? The history of Valentine's Day — and its patron saint — is shrouded in mystery. But we do know that February has long been a month of romance. St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. So, who was Saint Valentine and how did he become associated with this ancient rite? Today, the Catholic Church recognizes at least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred.
One legend contends that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men — his crop of potential soldiers. Valentine, realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine's actions were discovered, Claudius ordered that he be put to death.

Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons where they were often beaten and tortured.
According to one legend, Valentine actually sent the first 'valentine' greeting himself. While in prison, it is believed that Valentine fell in love with a young girl — who may have been his jailor's daughter — who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter, which he signed 'From your Valentine,' an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories certainly emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic, and, most importantly, romantic figure. It's no surprise that by the Middle Ages, Valentine was one of the most popular saints in England and France.
While some believe that Valentine's Day is celebrated in the middle of February to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial — which probably occurred around 270 A.D — others claim that the Christian church may have decided to celebrate Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an effort to 'christianize' celebrations of the pagan Lupercalia festival. In ancient Rome, February was the official beginning of spring and was considered a time for purification. Houses were ritually cleansed by sweeping them out and then sprinkling salt and a type of wheat called spelt throughout their interiors. Lupercalia, which began at the ides of February, February 15, was a fertility festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, as well as to the Roman founders Romulus and Remus.
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To begin the festival, members of the Luperci, an order of Roman, for fertility, and a dog, for purification. priests, would gather at the sacred cave where the infants Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, were believed to have been cared for by a she-wolf or lupa. The priests would then sacrifice a goat
The boys then sliced the goat's hide into strips, dipped them in the sacrificial blood and took to the streets, gently slapping both women and fields of crops with the goathide strips. Far from being fearful, Roman women welcomed being touched with the hides because it was believed the strips would make them more fertile in the coming year. Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city's bachelors would then each choose a name out of the urn and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage. Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine's Day around 498 A.D. The Roman 'lottery' system for romantic pairing was deemed un-Christian and outlawed. Later, during the Middle Ages, it was commonly believed in France and England that February 14 was the beginning of birds' mating season, which added to the idea that the middle of February — Valentine's Day — should be a day for romance. The oldest known valentine still in existence today was a poem written by Charles, Duke of Orleans to his wife while he was imprisoned in the Tower of London following his capture at the Battle of Agincourt. The greeting, which was written in 1415, is part of the manuscript collection of the British Library in London, England. Several years later, it is believed that King Henry V hired a writer named John Lydgate to compose a valentine note to Catherine of Valois.
In Great Britain, Valentine's Day began to be popularly celebrated around the seventeenth century. By the middle of the eighteenth century, it was common for friends and lovers in all social classes to exchange small tokens of affection or handwritten notes. By the end of the century, printed cards began to replace written letters due to improvements in printing technology. Ready-made cards were an easy way for people to express their emotions in a time when direct expression of one's feelings was discouraged. Cheaper postage rates also contributed to an increase in the popularity of sending Valentine's Day greetings. Americans probably began exchanging hand-made valentines in the early 1700s. In the 1840s, Esther A. Howland began to sell the first mass-produced valentines in America.
According to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated one billion valentine cards are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas.)
Approximately 85 percent of all valentines are purchased by women. In addition to the United States, Valentine's Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia.
Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages (written Valentine's didn't begin to appear until after 1400), and the oldest known Valentine card is on display at the British Museum. The first commercial Valentine's Day greeting cards produced in the U.S. were created in the 1840s by Esther A. Howland. Howland, known as the Mother of the Valentine, made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as "scrap".

Chinese New Year 2010

Chinese calendar has been in continuous use for centuries. It predates the International Calendar (based on the Gregorian Calendar) in use at the present, which goes back only some 430 years. Basically, a calendar is a system we use to measures the passage of time, from short durations of minutes and hours, to intervals of time measured in days, months, years and centuries. These are fundamentally based on the astronomical observations of the movement of the Sun, Moon and stars. Days are measured by the duration of time of one self rotation of the earth. Months are measured by the duration of time of rotation of the moon around the earth. Years are measured by the duration of time it takes for the earth to rotate around the Sun. Chinese New Year Days .



2005 Feb 9

2006 Jan 29

2007 Feb 18

2008 Feb 7

2009 Jan 26

2010 Feb 14

2011 Feb 3

2012 Jan 23


What is the Chinese New Year's Day in Year 2010?


February 14, 2010 is the first day of the Chinese new year - Year of the Tiger..
There are three ways to name a Chinese year:
By an animal (like a mscot). 2008 is known as the Year of the Rat.2009 is the Year of the Ox.2010 is the Year of the TigerThere are 12 animal names; so by this system, year names are repeated every 12 years.
By its Formal Name (Stem-Branch). 2010 is the year of Geng Yin .
2009 is the Year of Ji Chou.
In the 'Stem-Branch' system, the years are counted in 60-year Cycles, so that the Name of the Year is repeated every 60 years.2010 is the11-th year in the current 60-year Cycle.2009 is the 10-th year in the current 60-year Cycle.
A "Cycle" is analogous to a "century" in the International Calendar system which is 100 years long.
2010 is Year 4707 in the Chinese Caledar.2009 is Year 4706 in the Chinese Calendar.





What's special about the Chinese New Year in 2006?
It was a Leap Year! Unlike the western calendar, where one extra day is added in February, one whole leap month is added in a Chinese Leap Year.
Just think. If you get paid by the month, instead of working an extra day for nothing, you would get an extra month's pay !!!
This time around, the Leap Month comes after the regular 7-th Month. The "Leap Second Month" begins on August 24,2006.




When was the Chinese New Year's Day in Year 2003?
February 1, 2003. It was the first day in the Year of the Ram (sheep, goat).This is Year 4700 by Chinese calendar.
When was the Chinese New Year's Day in Year 2002?
February 12, 2002. It was the first day in the Year of the Horse.It is Year 4699 by Chinese calendar.
For those interested in astrology, it is the year of the Black Horse.
When was the Chinese New Year's Day in Year 2001?
January 24, 2001. This was the first day in the Year of the Snake.This is Year 4698.
[Some says this is Year 4638, which is also plausible. Others claim this year to be either 4699 or 4399, which are almost certainly wrong.]
What's special about the Chinese New Year in 2001?
It was a Leap Year! Unlike the western calendar, where one extra day is added in February, one whole leap month is added in a Chinese Leap Year.
Just think. If you get paid by the month, instead of working an extra day for nothing, you would get an extra month's pay !!!
This time around, the Leap Month comes after the regular 4-th Month. The "Leap 4-th Month" begins on May 23, 2001.

12 Animals
Each year is also designated by one of the 12 Animals For instance, 2005 is Year of Rooster; 2006 is Year of Dog; and 2007 is the Year of Pig. 2008 is the Year of the Rat
This system is extremely practical. A child does not have to learn a new answer to the question, "How old are you?" in each new year. Old people often lose track of their age, because they are rarely asked about their present age. Every one just have to remember that he or she was born in the "Year of the Dog" or whatever.
Since 2008 is the Year of the Rat, any one who was born in the Year of the Rat is either 1 or 13, 25, 37, 49, 61, 73, 85 or 97 years old. When 2009 comes, the person is still born in the Year of the Rat. but he/she is 2,14, 26, 38, 50, 62, 74, 86 or 98 yeas old.Thus, instead of asking the question "How old are you?", ask the person "In which (animal) year were you born?"
New Year's decoration at the front of the house
Colorful calligraphy called 'chun lian' (Spring couplet) are as popular as those for Halloween or Christmas.