Eat a hard-boiled egg to find true love? Here are 9 weird facts about Valentine's Day
Valentine's Day isn't just about flowers and lots of chocolates (although we're not complaining about having too much of either).
Over the years, it has inspired the creation of some strange superstitions in the quest to find true love.
Photo: AFP
We've put together a list of some of the weirdest, little-known facts about the day.
Valentine's Day superstitions
1) During the 1700s in England, on the eve of Valentine's Day, a girl would pin four bay leaves to her pillow and eat a hard-boiled egg, with the shell.
It was said that she'd marry the boy she dreamt of that night.
2) An individual has to think of five or six names of people they would consider marrying.
While saying their names, they need to twist the stem of an apple. If the stem breaks, it means the name that was said at that point would be the person they would marry.
Photo: AFP
3) The number of seeds in an apple when you cut it in half would be the number of children you will have.
4) The first name a girl hears or sees on Valentine's Day, may it be on the radio or in the newspaper, will be the name of the man she will marry.
Events on or related to Valentine's Day
1. Richard Cadbury invented the first Valentine's Day candy box in the late 1800s.
Photo: AFP
2. Alexander Graham Bell applied for his patent on the telephone on Valentine's Day, 1876.
Photo: US Library of Congress
3. In 1936, Valentine’s Day was introduced to Japan.
A translation mistake that a chocolate company made changed the popular day to having women buy chocolates for their partners, not the other way round. It is the only day a single woman will reveal her feelings to her crush.
The men will give a reply on White Day, March 14.
4. The phrase "wearing your heart on your sleeve" started when young men and women picked names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be in the middle ages.
They would then pin the name on their sleeves for a week.
5. In some countries, a suitor would give a woman an article of clothing. If she kept the gift it meant she had accepted his marriage proposal.
Sources: St Valentines Day, DYKN
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