Did You Know? Facts & Figures About Valentine’s Day

Join us as we countdown to Valentine’s Day with an interesting mix of facts, figures, and folklore about the day of love!

Did you know that Cupid was the son of Venus, the Roman god of love? Cupid is a mainstay of Valentine’s Day marketing campaigns, featured prominently on greeting cards and boxes of chocolates.

We’ll be presenting a new “Did You Know?” fun fact each day as we countdown to February 14th! So stop by again tomorrow or for those with no patience you can visit our Valentine’s Day celebration for our list of Did You Know? Valentine’s Day facts.

Groundhog Day
Folklore has it that if a groundhog sees its shadow today there will be 6 more weeks of winter. If not, and we’re lucky, it’ll be an early spring.

…the European Celts believed that animals had certain supernatural powers on special days that were half-way between the Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox. Folklore from Germany and France indicated that when marmots and bears came out of their winter dens too early, they were frightened by their shadow and retreated back inside for four to six weeks*…

Another possible inspiration for Groundhog Day is the Roman celebration of Hedgehog Day. A day in which Romans believed a hedgehog seeing its shadow would also forecast 6 more weeks of winter.

Famous US groundhogs: Punxsutawney Phil, Staten Island Chuck, Wiarton Willie, Shubenacadie Sam and General Beauregard Lee

*source: wikipedia: Groundhog Day