O=Hugs X=Kisses

Teddy Roosevelt lost his first wife, Alice Lee, to kidney failure on February 14, 1884 -- the same day that his mother died of typhoid fever.

The lovespoon was given to a young woman by her suitor. It was important for the girl's father to see that the young man was capable of woodworking and providing for the family.

Teachers receive the most Valentine's Day cards, followed by children, mothers, wives, sweethearts, and pets.

The Bronx Zoo will email you a certificate proving that you named a cockroach after your lover with its Name a Roach program. Because nothing says endless love like a cockroach.

NECCO added ten new sayings to their Sweethearts Conversations Hearts for Valentine's Day, 2004. The new sayings were:

3 Wishes
Ever After
New You
Magic
Dream
Charm Me
Start Now
New Love
IM Me
I ♥ You

Starting in the 1980s, the diamond industry began to promote Valentine's Day as occasion for the giving of fine jewelry. Chocolate and NECCO wafers have been around for well over a century, and E-Cards didn't become popular until the 1990s.

The State of California produces 60% of American roses, but most roses sold on Valentine's Day in the U.S. are imported from South America.

Georgie Porgie, pudding and pie,
Kissed the girls and made them cry,
When the boys came out to play,
Georgie Porgie ran away

Shakespeare refers to Valentine's Day in Hamlet (Act 4, Scene 5) when Ophelia sings:

To-morrow is Saint Valentine's day,
All in the morning betime,
And I a maid at your window,
To be your Valentine.
Then up he rose, and donn'd his clothes,
And dupp'd the chamber-door;
Let in the maid, that out a maid
Never departed more.