Learned Today

Valentine’s Day was originally a fairly risky and (one can only hope) risque random pairing of men and women in ancient Rome to round out a festival dedicated to Faunus, the Roman god of agriculture, and Romulus and Remus (the twin founders of Rome): Later in the day, according to legend, all the young women in the city would place their names in a big urn. The city’s bachelors would then each choose a name out of the urn and become paired for the year with his chosen woman. These matches often ended in marriage.

(Courtesy of The History Channel).