Valentine’s Day, also known as St. Valentine’s Day, holiday (February 14) when lovers express their affection with gifts.
The holiday has origins in the Roman festival of Lupercalia, held in mid-February. The festival, which celebrated the coming of spring, included fertility rites and the pairing off men and women.
At the end of the 5th century, Pope Gelasius I. replaced Lupercalia with St. Valentine’s Day.
This day has came to be celebrated as a time of romance from about the 14th century.
Valentine's Day is celebrated annually, the world over. (February 14)