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Valentine’s Day

There is no historical agreement on the exact historical origins of Valentine’s day as there were multiple Christian saints named Valentine whom Pope Gelasius could have named the holiday feast after in 498 AD. Nine hundred years later, Valentine’s Day was not widely celebrated, although a court of love was mentioned by Chaucer as taking place in Paris to honor St. Valentine in 1400. It would take a few more hundred years until the holiday gained greater acceptance, first in Great Britain and then spreading to the American colonies. Today, more than 150 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged annually in the United States, making Valentine’s Day the second-most popular greeting-card-giving occasion according to Hallmark.

In this mini unit, you can learn more about the history of Valentine’s Day, walk through a virtual exhibit of Valentine’s Day through the ages, watch videos on the history of the holiday and the custom of giving greeting cards, look at vintage Valentine cards and create a gift for your valentine.

Reading

History of Valentine’s Day

Many Faces of Valentine’s Day Virtual Exhibit

Multimedia

Valentine’s Day history overview

Valentine cards over time

Photos

Vintage Valentine Cards

Projects and Activities

25 valentine’s Day Craft Project (Ages K-12)

Recommended Resource

Learning Through History Back Issues Now on CD-ROM
Out-of-print back issues of Learning Through History now available on CD-ROM. New CD-ROMs titles will be available approximately one every month, so check back often!

Ancient China CD-ROM Edition

Discover the many wonders of ancient China as we look back at the cultural and scientific achievements of a great culture. In this issue:

• 17 articles with discussion questions
• 3 fun arts & crafts projects
• 2 complete historical literature study guides
• Book and video lists for each article
• Web links for each article

Features of the CD-ROM edition are:

Formatted for on screen viewing.
Hyperlinked index and websites.
Bookmarked articles.
Printable pages.

Our Price: $6.25
Purchase here

Also available is a Classroom license version that allows professional educators to print up to 30 copies of articles per class without the need to purchase multiple copies of the CD-ROM. Check website for details.