Category 1
Valentine's Day evolved from what ancient Roman festival?
A) Floralia
B) Valentalia
C) Lupercalia
Lupercalia
Valentine's Day is believed to have it's roots in the ancient Roman festival of Lupercalia, a fertility celebration commemorated annually on February 15. Sometime around 496, Pope Gelasius I renamed this pagan festival Valentine's Day and moved it to February 14.
What percentage of Valentine Cards are purchased by women?
A) 85%
B) 72%
C) 56%
85%
The Greeting Card Association estimates that women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines.
What does the O in XOXO stand for?
A) Love
B) Kisses
C) Hugs
Hugs
O=Hugs, X=Kisses
During the 1980s, what industry began to promote their product as a good Valentine's Day gift?
A) Necco Wafer Industry
B) Diamond Industry
C) Chocolate Industry
Diamond Industry
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.
How many U.S. towns are named Valentine?
A) 10
B) 4
C) 12
Four
Valentine, Arizona; Valentine, Nebraska; Valentine, Texas; and Valentine, Virginia.
Statistically, a woman who purchases flowers on Valentine's Day is most likely buying them for....?
A) Herself
B) Her significant other
C) Her mother
Herself
According to the Ipsos-Insight for the American Floral Endowment's Consumer Tracking Study, when a woman buys flowers on Valentine's Day she is most often buying them for herself (27%). Other common recipients include her mother (23%), her significant other (18%), her daughter (8%) or a friend (7%).
The British Museum holds a letter believed to be the oldest Valentine still in existence. Who wrote it?
A) Charles d'Orléans
B) Mark Antony
C) Geoffrey Chaucer
Charles d'Orléans
Charles d'Orléans was captured by the English at Agincourt and then kept prisoner for the next twenty-five years. He passed his time writing sorrowful poetry, including the St. Valentine's Day letter that describes his sadness at being parted from his love.
Which U.S. President lost both his wife and mother on Valentine's Day?
A) Theodore Roosevelt
B) William McKinley
C) Warren G. Harding
Theodore Roosevelt
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.
What U.S. state produces the most roses for Valentine's Day?
A) California
B) Texas
C) Colorado
California
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.
In which U.S. state do people marry the youngest?
A) Arkansas
B) Alabama
C) Utah
Utah
As for the youngest-marrying states, Utah takes first place with the median age of 23.5 for women and 25.6 for men.
How many Valentine Cards are sent each year?
A) 10 Billion
B) 1 Billion
C) 500 Million
1 Billion
The Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentine cards are sent world-wide each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year behind Christmas.
What percentage of roses purchased on Valentine's Day are red?
A) 92%
B) 69%
C) 78%
69%
According to the Ipsos-Insight for the American Floral Endowment's Consumer Tracking Study, of roses purchased on Valentine's Day, 69% are red, 6% pink, 6% peach/salmon, 5% yellow, 4% white, 7% mixed colors and 4% other.
In Old Ireland, a heart was carved into what as a Valentine's Day gift?
A) Turnip
B) Spoon
C) Tree
Spoon
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.
In which of Shakespeare's plays does he refer to Valentine's Day?
A) Twelfth Night
B) Romeo & Juliet
C) Hamlet
Hamlet
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.
What did the founder of Domino's give his future wife for their first Valentine's Day?
A) A heart-shaped pizza
B) A rubber chicken purse
C) A Domino's gift card
A heart-shaped pizza
Domino's founder Tom Monaghan met his wife while delivering pizza to a college dorm. On their second date, he gave his valentine a heart-shaped pizza.
Saint Valentine was put to death at the order of what Roman Emperor?
A) Tiberius II
B) Claudius II
C) Augustus II
Claudius II
Although there were several St. Valentines, most scholars believe Valentine's Day was intended to honor a priest who attracted the displeasure of the Roman Emperor Claudius II around 270. Claudius had come to the conclusion that single men made better soldiers, so he outlawed marriage for all young men. Valentine, realizing the injustice of this decree, defied the order and continued to perform marriages for young lovers in secret. When his actions were discovered, Claudius II had him put to death.
In addition to being the unofficial patron saint of love, what occupation is Saint Valentine also believed to be the patron of?
A) Beekeepers
B) Brewers
C) Exorcists
Beekeepers
Besides his patronage of couples, love and happy marriages, St. Valentine is also charged with ensuring the sweetness of honey and the protection of beekeepers.
Who receives the most Valentine's Day cards?
A) Wives
B) Teachers
C) Children
Teachers
Teachers receive the most Valentine's Day cards, followed by children, mothers, wives, sweethearts, and pets.
What animal do you need to kiss to turn it into a Prince?
A) Frog
B) Rat
C) Mouse
Frog
Not every frog you kiss will turn into a prince.
What year were conversations hearts first invented?
A) 1934
B) 1702
C) 1866
1866
Daniel Chase created the first conversation hearts in 1866 by devising a machine that would press food dye letters onto the candy lozenges made famous by his brother and NECCO founder Oliver Chase.
Cupid, the mischievous winged child, has become associated with Valentine's Day because his arrows pierce the hearts of his victims causing them to fall deeply in love. Who was Cupid's mother?
A) Penelope
B) Minerva
C) Venus
Venus
Cupid's mother was, appropriately, Venus--the Goddess of Love. The identity of his father is less clear. Seneca says that Vulcan, as the husband of Venus, is the father of Cupid. Cicero, however, claims that Cupid's father is either Mercury or Mars.
Who created the first Valentine's Day box of chocolates?
A) Milton Hershey
B) Russell Stover
C) Richard Cadbury
Richard Cadbury
In 1822, John Cadbury opened a tea and coffee shop in Birmingham, England. He soon expanded into chocolate manufacturing, and in 1861 his son Richard greatly increased sales by packaging Cadbury chocolates in the world's first heart shaped candy box for Valentine's Day.
What animal will the Bronx Zoo let you name after your lover on Valentine's Day?
A) Dove
B) Cockroach
C) Rabbit
Cockroach
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.
Who did Cupid fall in love with?
A) Aphrodite
B) Psyche
C) Venus
Psyche
When the fame of Psyche's beauty threatened to eclipse that of Venus herself, the love goddess sent Cupid to work her revenge. Cupid, however, became enamored of Psyche, and arranged for her to be taken to his palace.
Cupid is sometimes described as being....?
A) Deaf
B) Blind
C) Mute
Blind
Cupid is sometimes depicted blindfolded because, of course, love is blind.