Valentine's Day or Valentine's Day, the most romantic holiday, is celebrated in most countries of the world on February 14 - on this day for more than one and a half thousand years, people confess their love to each other.

Curiously, the commemoration of St. Valentine was originally established as an homage to his martyrdom, without any connection with the patronage of lovers.

Gradually, Valentine's Day turned from a Catholic holiday into a secular one. Many people celebrate this holiday with pleasure, although it is not included in the calendar among official holidays.

Story

Valentine's Day has existed for more than 15 centuries, but according to pagan traditions, the "Love" holidays were popular even in ancient times.

So, in ancient Rome on February 15, every year they celebrated the feast of abundance - Lupercalia - in honor of the god Faun (Luperk is one of his nicknames), the patron saint of herds. And the day before Lupercalia was celebrated the feast of the Roman goddess of marriage, motherhood and women Juno and the god Pan.

© photo: Sputnik / Pavel Balabanov

On this day, the girls wrote love letters, which were placed in a huge urn, and then the men pulled the letters. Then each man began to look after the girl whose love letter he pulled out.

In ancient Greece, this holiday was called Panurgy - ritual games in honor of the god Pan (in Roman mythology - Faun) - the patron saint of herds, forests, fields and their fertility. According to mythology, Pan is a merry fellow and a rake, perfectly plays the pipe and always pursues the nymphs with his love.

There is information that this day was also called the "Bird's Wedding", since it was believed that birds form mating pairs precisely in the second week of the second month of the year.

Saint Valentine

There are many legends associated with the name of St. Valentine. The most beautiful and romantic of them is the story of a Christian preacher who in 269 married the legionaries of the Roman Empire with their beloved, despite the ban of Emperor Claudius II.

To preserve the military spirit, the emperor issued a decree prohibiting marriage to legionnaires, since it was believed that a married man thinks about how to feed his family, and not about the good of the empire and military prowess.

© photo: Sputnik / Maxim Blinov

Romantic action "Knight of Love"

Saint Valentine sympathized with the lovers and tried to help them in every possible way - he reconciled the quarreling lovers, composed letters for them with declarations of love, gave flowers to the young spouses and secretly married the soldiers.

Claudius II, learning about this, ordered to throw the priest in prison, and soon signed a decree on his execution. The last days of St. Valentine's life are also shrouded in a halo of romance.

According to legend, the jailer's blind daughter fell in love with him, but Valentine, as a priest who took a vow of celibacy, could not answer her feelings. However, on the night before the execution on February 13, he wrote her a touching letter, where he spoke of his love. And the girl, having read the message after the execution of the priest, regained her sight.

It is assumed that it is from there that the tradition of writing love notes - "valentines" - on Valentine's Day began.

© photo: Sputnik / Igor Zarembo

According to the Catholic Church, Saint Valentine really healed a blind girl - the daughter of the dignitary Asteria, who believed in Christ and was baptized. Claudius then ordered Valentine's execution. That is, Valentine suffered for his faith, and therefore was numbered among the Saints.

There is an assumption that the Church introduced Valentine's Day as a counterbalance to the popular pagan holiday of Love, which they could not eradicate with the advent of Christianity.

Around the same time, a legend appears, designed to explain why Saint Valentine patronizes lovers.

One way or another, two hundred years later, Valentine was proclaimed a Saint, the patron saint of all lovers.

However, in 1969, as a result of the reform of the worship service, Saint Valentine was removed from the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church. The reason for this was the fact that there is no information about this martyr, except for the name and information about the beheading by the sword.

Valentine

The very first valentine greeting card in the world is considered a note sent by Charles, Duke of Orleans, to his wife from the Tower of London, where he was imprisoned in 1415.

© photo: Sputnik / Artem Zhitenev

Participants of the flash mob "1000 hearts"

Valentine cards were very popular in the 18th century, especially in England. They were exchanged as gifts. The lovers made cards out of colored paper and signed them with colorful ink. By the beginning of the 20th century, with the improvement of printing technology, handwritten postcards were replaced by printed ones.

Today, on Valentine's Day, it is customary to give each other valentines in the form of hearts, with declarations of love, marriage proposals or just jokes. They also like to arrange weddings and get married on this day.

Traditions

In Europe, this holiday has been widely celebrated since the 13th century. In England, they used to carve wooden "spoons of love" and give them to their loved ones. They were decorated with hearts, keys and keyholes, which symbolized that the way to the heart was open.

Louis XVI, who presented such a bouquet to Marie Antoinette, is considered the ancestor of the tradition of giving to lovers exactly red roses. According to legend, Aphrodite stepped on a bush of white roses and stained the roses with her blood, so red roses appeared.

According to an ancient custom, in England and Scotland, on the eve of the holiday dedicated to St. Valentine, young people put tickets in the urn with the names of young girls written on them. Then each took out one ticket.

The girl who got her name young man, became for the coming year his "Valentina", and he became her "Valentine". This meant that between the young people for a year there was a relationship similar to those that, according to the descriptions of medieval novels, arose between a knight and his "lady of the heart."

© photo: Sputnik / Vitaly Belousov

Electric ovens for lovers installed in Sokolniki Park

According to legend, in Britain, unmarried girls on February 14 get up before sunrise, stand near the window and look at the passing men - the first man they see is the betrothed.

Italians call February 14 a sweet day and give sweets and candies. Valentines are mailed in a pink envelope with no return address. In romantic Denmark, dried white flowers are usually sent to each other, and in Spain, it is considered to be the height of passion to send a love letter with a carrier pigeon.

In France, it is customary to give jewelry on Valentine's Day. On Valentine's Day, the French also hold various romantic contests. For example, there is a very popular competition for the longest serenade - a love song. And it was in France that the quatrain message was first written.

Valery Melnikov

In Japan, on Valentine's Day, which began to be celebrated in the 30s of the XX century, it is customary to give chocolate to men - usually in the form of a Valentine's figurine. This is not so much a declaration of love as a sign of attention.

The tradition of giving sweets on this day appeared at the suggestion of a large chocolate company. In addition, the Japanese hold a competition for the loudest and brightest love message. Boys and girls climb the platform and shout from there about their love.

Valentine's Day has been celebrated in the United States since 1777. The tradition of giving gifts on this day grew stronger every year and for some it has become a fairly successful business. At the beginning of the 19th century, the Americans developed a custom - to give marzipan figurines to their beloved on this day. And marzipans in those days were considered a great luxury.

In the post-Soviet space, people first noticed Valentine's Day about two decades ago. Only last years celebrated in large quantities with valentines, congratulations and declarations of love.

Valentine's Day is also celebrated in Georgia, despite the fact that the country has its own Day of Love, which is celebrated on April 15.

© photo: Sputnik / Natia Tsirekidze

It is curious that the Georgian Day of Love was once introduced as an alternative to Valentine's Day, the tradition of celebrating which came to the newly independent states from Western countries. Romantic Georgians, like many other countries that have their own alternative day of Love, today celebrate both holidays, according to the principle, the more the better.

But there are countries in the world where a taboo was imposed on the holiday of Love. 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.

The material was prepared on the basis of open sources.

A bit of history

Valentine's Day is named for two of the many early Christian martyrs named Valentine. Some dioceses of the Catholic Church celebrate the memory of St. Valentine on this day. The history of Valentine's Day dates back to the Lupercalia of Ancient Rome. Lupercalia is a festival of eroticism in honor of the goddess of "feverish" love Juno Februata and the god Faun (Luperk is one of his nicknames), the patron saint of herds, which was celebrated annually on February 14. In ancient times, infant mortality was very high, In 276 BC. e. Rome nearly died out as a result of the "epidemic" of stillbirths and miscarriages. The oracle announced that in order to increase the birth rate, a rite of corporal punishment (flogging) of women with the help of sacrificial skin is necessary. After the feast, the young men took whips made from the skins of the sacrificial animals and went out into the city to whip the women. for a long time existed.

In 494 A.D. e. Pope Gelasius I tried to ban Lupercalia. The holiday, which replaced the Lupercalia, was appointed a heavenly patron - Saint Valentine, of whom in 269 AD. e. the Roman emperor Claudius II ordered to be killed for his preaching work among the youth. He was executed on 14 February. He was later canonized by the church.

Valentines - love messages - are also directly related to Saint Valentine: according to legend, the cruel Roman emperor Claudius II decided that a single man - without a family, wife and obligations, fights better for his homeland, and forbade men to marry, and women and girls - to go out marry your beloved men. And Saint Valentine sympathized with the unfortunate lovers and secretly sanctified marriages loving men and women. This soon became known, and Valentine was thrown into prison, where he met the warden's beautiful daughter, Julia. Before his death, the enamored priest wrote his beloved girl a declaration of love - a valentine.

In the world

For Germans, February 14 is, first of all, the Day of All Mad Men, because Saint Valentine is the patron saint of the mentally ill. On this day, special services are held in German chapels with prayers for the repose of Valentine's soul and for the health of patients with mental disabilities. On this day, orderlies and doctors decorate hospitals with scarlet ribbons and small images of angels.

In Japan, this holiday became widespread in the post-war period, when European trends began to influence the culture of life. The main gift is chocolate, but it is not the stronger sex who makes such gifts, but vice versa.

In the United States, Valentine's Day began to be celebrated later than in Europe - since 1777. In the 50s of the XX century, sweets began to be packed in heart-shaped cardboard boxes. Also, a week before the holiday, American schoolchildren cut out hearts from papier-mâché, paint and make various inscriptions. These hearts are given to lonely, unhappy and sick people, according to qwester.ru.

In Israel, this holiday does not take on such a scale as in Catholic countries, but in recent years, parties and romantic evenings have been held in Israeli restaurants, especially in Tel Aviv, on Valentine's Day. On Valentine's Day, red is recommended for ladies, and men should not forget to give scarlet flowers and chocolates to their girlfriends. Interestingly, Israel and the Palestinian Authority supply more red flowers to Europe for Valentine's Day than on March 8.

Ukraine on this day celebrates the Day of Radiation, Chemical and Biological Defense Troops The armed forces country.

In Bulgaria and Serbia, February 14 is the holiday of St. Tryphon winegrowers, whose patron saint he is. Numerous rituals are associated with this holiday in both countries. The Serbs believe that winter ends on this day.

And in Islamic countries this holiday is not celebrated at all - Islam perceives it extremely negatively.

In Russia, the holiday is of a secular nature, the attitude of the Catholic and Orthodox churches to this holiday is ambiguous. The religious community believes that the tradition of celebrating Valentine's Day is based on the Roman pagan holiday"Lupercali". Currently, the Catholic Church celebrates on this day the memory of Saints Cyril and Methodius, the enlighteners of the Slavs.

February 14 is also an unofficial holiday for all computer scientists. On this day, back in 1946, the scientific world for the first time saw a really working computer capable of performing practical tasks - ENIAC (ENIAC I: Electrical Numerical Integrator And Calculator - Electric numerical integrator and calculator), the website estpovod.ru writes. The first electronic digital computer was fundamentally different from what we have now - it weighed about 30 tons and occupied an entire room. ENIAC successfully operated until October 2, 1955, when it was turned off and disassembled.

And February 4 is also the International Book-Making Day.

About future

Scientists have designated a new date for the end of the world - February 14, 2013. No one has ever seen a celestial body, but scientists say that it flew just at the end of 2012. And the end of the world will come as a result of the polarity reversal. Nibiru will begin to move away from the Earth in its orbit only after July 1, 2014, the site 2012over.ru reports with reference to monavista.ru.

Valentine's Day (Valentine's Day)

This holiday owes its appearance to the Christian priest Valentine from the Roman city of Terni, who in about 269, during the reign of the Roman emperor Claudius II, secretly performed weddings of legionnaires with their beloved. Secretly - because the emperor forbade the legionnaires to marry, so that they would think only of the glory of the empire on campaigns.

Upon learning of Valentine's activities, the emperor ordered his execution. On the night before the execution, the priest, in love with the jailer's daughter, wrote her a farewell letter, which told about his love. She read this message after his execution. It is believed that it is precisely because of this that the tradition of writing love notes on Valentine's Day - "valentines", arose.

Subsequently, the Catholic Church declared Valentine a Christian martyr, who suffered for the faith, and canonized. And since 496, after the signing of a special decree by Pope Gelasius, February 14 began to be celebrated as Valentine's Day.

On this day, it is customary to give gifts and "valentines" to your loved ones, and it is also considered very successful for weddings and weddings. People believe that by joining their destinies on this day, they will protect their love from the vicissitudes of fate and preserve it for many years.

Geek day

This holiday is informal, but very popular in the professional world. It was founded in 1946 when people were first able to witness the first electronic computer ENIAC I.

Work on its development was carried out with the support of the American army, which needed a computer in order to carry out military calculations, planning and programming. The first computer, having worked until October 2, 1955, was disposed of.

February 14 in the national calendar

Day of the holy martyr Tryphon

On this day, the church honors the memory of St. Tryphon, who lived in Nicaea in the 3rd century. Having adopted Christianity from an early age, during his adolescence, he discovered the gift of miracles and began to heal the sick. Tradition says that Tryphon was able to expel the demon from the daughter of the Roman emperor Gordian III. As an idolater, the emperor was very loyal to Christians. But when the next emperor, Decius Trajan, came to power, he began persecuting them, and Tryphon was executed.

This day was called Trifon-Myshegon, since it was customary to conjure mice on it so that they would not spoil the ricks of bread. Also on February 14, cats were placated by treating them with milk so that they would help the owners to fight the mice.

On Trifonov Day, unmarried girls begged for their suitors.

There were folk signs connected with this day: the stars in the sky on the night of Tryphon spoke of late spring, snow promised spring rains, and fog indicated the onset of good weather. It was believed that the weather on Tryphon determines the weather for the rest of February.

Historical events on February 14

February 14, 1895 the premiere of the last play by Oscar Wilde, held in London.

Oscar Wilde was in great demand in London, his plays were successful and popular. In 1895, the premiere of The Importance of Being Earnest, based on his play, to which the Prince of Wales was invited, took place at London's St James's Theater. The premiere was a triumph, however, the performance was banned after the 83rd premiere. The reason for this was ridicule in the comedy of the sanctimonious mores that reigned in late Victorian society.

This was followed by the scandalous trial of Wilde, in which he was accused of homosexuality and sentenced to two years in prison and corrective labor. It was in the prison that his last work was written. Freed, Oscar Wilde went to France.

On January 24, 1918, the decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR decided to introduce the Gregorian calendar, in connection with which an amendment of 13 days was introduced. Thus, in Russia, immediately after January 31, 1918, the day of February 14 followed.

After that, all events and documents that date back to the period before February 1, 1918, are dated according to the Julian calendar ("old" style), after February 1, 1918 - according to the Gregorian ("new" style). The main date can be supplemented with a date of a different style, which is placed next to it in parentheses.

February 14, 1950 signing of the "Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance" between the USSR and China

The "Treaty of Friendship, Alliance and Mutual Assistance" signed by the USSR and China in Moscow in 1950 was in effect until 1980.

Relations between Russia and China have a long history dating back to around the 13th century. The first treaty between these countries (Treaty of Nerchinsk) was signed in 1689. It concerned the consolidation of the border between states, the procedure for trade and the resolution of disputes. After him, in different periods of time, other important agreements appeared, however, the real flourishing of Soviet-Chinese relations took place in the middle of the 20th century. China received assistance from the USSR in almost all spheres of the country's life, including building a state and an army, training specialists, etc.

However, since 1956, relations between the countries began to deteriorate. In 1964, relations between the CPSU and the CPC were practically severed, and 1969 was marked by armed border conflicts between the USSR and China.

Relations between the countries resumed after the collapse of the USSR. Today Russia and China officially support a good relationship.

The YouTube service provides video hosting services, thanks to which any user has the ability to add, view and comment on various videos. Its ease of use has made YouTube the most popular video hosting service in the world and the third most visited site.

The founders of the YouTube service were three former PayPal employees - S. Chen, C. Hurley, D. Karim, who worked in San Bruno, California (USA). The project quickly gained a reputation good remedy entertainment and formed its community ahead of statistics social network MySpace.

In January 2012, videos on the site were viewed by 4 billion daily users. The importance of YouTube in the media world is confirmed by the fact that many media companies include its videos in their news reports, create official accounts on YouTube and use it to promote their products.

Were born on February 14

Leon Battista Alberti(14 February 1404 - 20 April 1472), Italian writer and architect

Leon Battista Alberti was born in 1404 in the Italian city of Genoa into a noble family. After graduating from the University of Bologna in 1428, he became secretary to Cardinal Albergati, then he got to serve in the office of the Pope, after which he resigned and stayed to live in Rome.

Alberti is the author of many famous comedies. But the main work of his life consisted in writing the series "Table Conversations", dated 1450-1460 years. This work is considered as an example of humanistic prose of the 15th century.

Alberti's architecture is based on antique motives. Examples of his architectural work are the Rucellai Palace in Florence, the churches of Santa Maria Novella and San Francesco, in the reconstruction of which he took part. It was Alberti who was responsible for the first presentation of the mathematical foundations of the doctrine of perspective and the idea of ​​a multi-alphabetic cipher.

Dargomyzhsky was born in 1813 in the village of Dargomyzh, Tula province. Having received an excellent education at home, including music, he decided to become a composer. In part, this decision was influenced by his acquaintance with M.I. Glinka, held in 1835.

Together with Glinka, Dargomyzhsky is the founder of the Russian classical school. In his central work, the opera "Mermaid", a new genre was born, representing a folk psychological musical drama. He also owns other significant musical works.

Anna Victoria German was born in 1936 in Uzbekistan, in the city of Urgench. When her mother married Polish officer Hermann Berner in 1946, the family moved to Poland. In 1955, Anna entered the Geological Faculty of the Boleslav Bierut University, from which she graduated in 1961.

Having started her pop career in 1960 at the student theater "Kalambur", she soon becomes a popular singer, participates and wins in various national song competitions.

However, after a terrible car accident in which Anna got in 1967, she only regained her feet by 1972. Having started recording songs in Moscow, she became insanely popular in the USSR. And today millions of people listen to the songs "Hope", "Echo of Love" and many others.

In 1982, the singer died of cancer.

Boris Stern was born in 1947 in Ukraine, graduated from the philological faculty of the Odessa State University.

Stern made his literary debut in 1975 with the short story "Whose Planet?" For him he received the Start prize, which before him in Eastern Europe had been awarded only to the Strugatsky brothers and Stanislav Lem. Today he is considered the best science fiction writer in Europe, covering a wide range of literary forms with his work.

Nikolay Eremenko (junior) was born in 1949 in Vitebsk into a family of actors. It is not surprising that in 1967 he became a student at VGIK. Eremenko's film debut in 1969 was the film "By the Lake" directed by Sergei Gerasimov, after which he actively starred in other popular films for many years, being one of the most sought-after actors of that time. In 1995, he tried himself as a director, filming the film "Son for Father".

Nikolai Eremenko Jr. died in 2001 in Moscow.

Valentine's Day

In many countries of the world, February 14 has been celebrated for more than 16 centuries Valentine's Day or St. Valentine's Day.
The Feast of Love has existed since the days of ancient pagan cultures. In mid-February, the ancient Romans celebrated Lupercalia, a festival of eroticism. This holiday was named after Juno Februata, the goddess of love.
The holiday of Valentine's Day was named after the Christian priest Valentine. The history of the origin of this holiday dates back to the year 269, when the Roman Empire was ruled by Emperor Claudius II, who prohibited legionary marriages in order to increase the composition of the Roman army for future military campaigns. Claudius II considered marriages the main enemy of his "Napoleonic" plans, because a married legionnaire thinks not about the glory of the empire, but about how to feed his family.
But after the release of the law prohibiting legionnaires from marrying, he did not stop falling in love. To their happiness, the legionnaires found a priest Valentin from the Roman city of Terni, who was not afraid of the imperial wrath and secretly married his beloved.
According to legend, the priest Valentine was a real romantic, he loved to reconcile those who quarreled, helped the legionnaires write love letters and gave flowers to their beloved at their request.
As soon as Emperor Claudius II found out about this "criminal activity", he sentenced Valentine to death.
Valentine himself at this time was in love with the jailer's daughter. The day before his death, the priest wrote a farewell letter to the girl, in which he told her about his love, and signed it "Your Valentine". The girl read this message of love after Valentine's execution.
Valentine, as a Christian martyr who suffered for the faith, was canonized by the Catholic Church, and Pope Gelasius in 496 declared February 14 Valentine's Day.
After the reform of the worship service in 1969, the name of St. Valentine was removed from the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church and until 1969 the church did not support the tradition of celebrating this day.
On Valentine's Day, the people have become a tradition to write love notes - "valentines", arrange weddings and get married. The people believe that a wedding on this day will be a guarantee of eternal love.
Valentine's Day has been widely celebrated in Western Europe since the 13th century, and in the United States since 1777.
In ancient Russia, there was a holiday of lovers dedicated to the pagan Slavic god Kupala - the son of Perun. This holiday was associated with the love story of Peter and Fevronia and was celebrated at the beginning of summer.

Geek day

Computer Engineer's Day is an unofficial holiday, but it is celebrated all over the world as a professional one. The date of this holiday on February 14 came from the well-known event of 1946, when on this day ENIAC I, the first really working electronic computer, was demonstrated to the entire scientific world.
The development of the very first computer was sponsored by the American army, which needed this computer for military calculations, planning and programming.
In Russia, except world day the geek is official professional holiday- Programmer's Day.

Holiday in France - Nice Carnival

Nice Carnival is one of the three largest and oldest carnivals in the world. According to historical information, the birth of the carnival took place in 1294, when here nice days the Duke of Anjou decided to spend the rest. Balls, fireworks and obscenities swept the whole city like wildfire. Craftsmen danced, fishermen frightened with their masks.
Today the carnival lasts two weeks, on the very first day of the holiday, participants meet the king of the Majesty Carnival holiday, and late in the evening they choose the queen of the carnival.

Church holidays

Day of the holy martyr Tryphon

On this day, Orthodox Christians honor the memory of the Holy Martyr Tryphon, who was born into a family of simple and pious peasants in the village of Kampsada, near the city of Apameia in one of the regions of Asia Minor - Phrygia.
As a child, he received no education because he grazed geese. But as a child, Saint Tryphon received from the Lord the gift of working miracles; by his prayer he did many good deeds - he healed ailments and cast out demons.

Day of Saints Cyril and Methodius

- Catholic holiday
On this day, the Catholic Church honors the memory of the holy brothers Cyril and Methodius - the enlighteners of the Slavs, the patrons of Europe, who created the Slavic alphabet.
Both brothers, around 861, twice visited Chersonesos as part of the Byzantine embassy to the Khazar Kaganate, then were sent by Emperor Michael III to one of the largest states of Central Europe at that time, Great Moravia.
The mission of Cyril and Methodius was organized in 846 - 879 at the request of Rostislav, the prince of Moravia, who wanted to limit the influence of the German clergy in his principality, he strove for Christian teaching to be preached not in Latin, but in the Slavs. Cyril and Methodius translated all books from Greek into Slavic Holy Scripture, as well as literature, which was necessary for the implementation of the divine services.

Holiday according to the national calendar

Trifon-micegon

On this day, the people honored St. Tryphon, who lived in Nicaea in the 3rd century. Tryphon, as a boy, from an early age adopted Christian customs and, healing the sick, manifested the gift of miracles. According to popular legend, Tryphon expelled demons from the daughter of Gordian III, the Roman emperor, who never persecuted Christians for his faith, although he himself was an idolater.
During the reign of Decius Trajan, the next emperor after Gordian III, persecution of Christians began and Tryphon was executed.
On Tryphon, among the peasants, it was considered necessary to conjure mice and ask them not to spoil the stacks of bread. By certain rituals, they tried to completely expel the rodents from the village. For this, the witch doctors took out a wedge of hay from the stack, carried it to the oven and kindled it with a red-hot poker. The result was ash, which was poured into places where hay and straw were stored.
At the same time, the witch doctor persuaded the mice not to eat white wheat and not to carry golden barley.
Thanks to this folk custom, this day was also popularly called “Tryphon with a cat”.
On the day of Tryphon, unmarried girls prayed for their suitors.
On this holiday, the peasants looked at the sky: if there were stars in the sky, then it would be late spring, but the snow on this day was for early spring rains, the fog foreshadowed good weather. The people said - what Tryphon will be, such will be the remaining days of February.
Name days February 14 Basil, Gabriel, David, Nicholas, Peter, Semyon, Timothy, Tryphon
They also celebrate February 14:

• Day of little reincarnations
• Name day at Peter, Tryphon

Unusual Holidays

- The day when everyone loves each other
- Sex day for a trip to the Maldives
- The day when what is happening exceeds all expectations
- Day and night for passionate sex
- Day of all the incredulous and suspicious

February 14th in history

1972 - The premiere of the television feature film "Shadows disappear at noon" directed by Valery Uskov and Vladimir Krasnopolsky took place.
1988 - Fire in the library of the Academy of Sciences in Leningrad. 4 million books were damaged (the largest fire in the history of Russian librarianship).
1989 - The leader of the Iranian Islamic revolution, Ayatollah Khomeini, gave a fatwa on the physical destruction of the Indian writer Salman Rushdie, whose book "Satanic Verses" was considered offensive to Islam by fundamentalist Muslims. The death sentence made the little-known writer a world celebrity and millionaire: his "seditious" essay was published in 26 languages ​​with a total circulation of over 600 thousand copies, and received a number of prestigious national and international awards. The bounty for the murder of Rushdie is currently raised to $ 3.3 million.
1994 - Andrey Chikatilo (b. 1936), the most famous Russian serial killer, died, was executed in the Novocherkassk prison with a shot in the back of the head.
1995 - Chinese authorities announced tightening of birth control policies based on the principle of one child per family.
2004 - Roof collapse in Transvaal Park in Moscow. 25 people died, more than 100 were injured.
2005 - YouTube service was created.
Review prepared by Galina Galkina

Every year on February 14, people send out tens of millions of postcards decorated with hearts, roses, kittens, kissing angels or doves. Boxes of chocolate, red roses with meter-long stems, touching Stuffed Toys, velvet pillows with confessions and wishes, various chains and pendants. On this day, many offer their chosen one a hand and a heart. February 14 - not a very ordinary day of the calendar - is a holiday for all hearts in love. This is a day of romantic feelings, high spirits, a day of impulses of the soul. This is a holiday for all people in whose hearts love lives.

Samuel Pepys, court chronicler of the English court, at the end of the 17th century. made a note that on February 14, lovers can exchange souvenirs: gloves, rings and sweets. And so it happened that a gift for Valentine's Day must necessarily include some kind of sweets in the shape of a heart: cake, sweets, cookies, cakes, chocolate. Valentine's Day, as a holiday for lovers, is celebrated on February 14 in Europe since the 13th century. In the USA - since 1777 In the CIS countries (open) - since the beginning of the 1990s.

Holiday history February 14

The beginning of this beautiful February holiday on February 14 - Valentine's Day - laid a touching story one love ... A long time ago, in the 3rd century AD, the Roman emperor Claudius III issued a decree forbidding people to marry. The warlike overlord decided that marriage kept men at home, preventing them from showing bravery on the battlefield. And only one and only priest Valentin opposed the order and secretly continued to marry the lovers. He was reported to the emperor, and Valentine was thrown into prison, sentenced to death.

The jailer's daughter, seeing Valentine and learning his story, fell in love with him. The priest reciprocated her. Since they could not see each other, the lovers communicated through correspondence.

On the day of the execution - February 14, 270, the brave priest sent his beloved a last note with the signature "From Valentine".

Valentine's Message
Let me introduce myself. My name is Valentine and I served as a priest in Rome in the third century. At the time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius II. I did not like Claudius, and many shared my feelings.
Claudius wanted to have a huge army, but there were very few volunteers, no one wanted to fight for him in unnecessary wars, people did not want to leave their wives and families. Claudius did not like this state of affairs, and he issued a completely insane decree banning all marriages.
Everyone understood that it was a ridiculous law that no one supported, including me!
After this law was passed, I continued to perform ceremonies - secretly, of course!
Imagine a small, candlelit room with only the bride, groom and priest. We whispered the words of the ceremony while listening to the sounds of footsteps.

One day, we heard footsteps. It was scary! Thank God, the couple that I matched at that moment managed to escape.
But I was caught, thrown into jail. I knew what was in store for me.
I tried not to lose heart. I was partly successful in this, since a lot of people visited me, they threw flowers and notes at the window of my cell. I knew that they believed in the power of love.
One of them was the jailer's daughter, whose father allowed him to visit me. Sometimes we talked for hours, she thanked me for ignoring the order of the emperor and continuing to carry out secret marriages. On the appointed day, I left a small message for my friend, with gratitude for her friendship and support, and signed "From your Valentine".

Now, every year on this day, people think about love and friendship.

A note written by Valentine on the day of his execution laid the tradition of exchanging messages of love on Valentine's Day. And now such notes are called "valentines", which later began to mean a declaration of love and fidelity. The execution took place.

Valentine's remains were buried in the Church of St. Praxidis in Rome, after which the gate in this church was called "Valentine's Gate". According to the legend, in spring a pink almond tree blossoms at his grave, which is considered a symbol of faithful love.

In our country, we much more love and honor the holiday of July 8 - the Day of Family, Love and Fidelity. Our dear holiday of love is quite young - the first time Russians celebrated it in 2008. The idea of ​​creating such a significant holiday for many was born, of course, among the residents of the city of Murom, located in the Vladimir region. It was here that the holy spouses Peter and Fevronia lived several centuries ago, who are considered the patrons of Christian marriage. The day chosen for our national holiday of the Day of Love - July 8 - is the date of their memory.

Of course, the holiday on February 14 is not our Russian holiday, and it is far from being celebrated on such a scale in Russia. But why not take advantage of the situation and confess your love to your loved ones, congratulate your loved ones, give them warm signs of attention? We congratulate all people on a sincere holiday on February 14, Valentine's Day, and from the bottom of our hearts we wish every person on earth to have someone on this frosty February day, on a hot summer day on July 8, and just say these magic words every day "I love you".