Cassiopeia Talks
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Video: Excellent Documentary piece on St. Valentine
A Little History
Valentine's Day was a day dedicated to the memory of three martyred saints named Valentine, one from Rome, one from Tierni near Rome, and one from Africa. (Many believe it is possible that they are all the same man since they are considered to have been martyred on the same date.)
There is a legend that St. Valentine lived during the reign of Claudius III, also called Claudius the Cruel, who believed that men were not joining the Roman Army due to their commitments to their wives & children. So, he banned marriage. St. Valentine didn't agree, and secretly married couples until he was sent to prison, condemned to death. Others believe that the priest was also a physician who gave medical assistance to martyrs in prison and was imprisoned for that act of kindness. Either way, while in prison it is said that he healed the jailer's blind daughter & this is the miracle that brought him to sainthood. Which brings us to yet another legend that states St. Valentine fell in love with this young woman & wrote her a letter signed "from your Valentine", which is a term we use today.
Many believe that none of these legends are true, and that the Catholic Church "christianized" many pagan holidays - such as the Fertility Festival of Juno Februa that we discussed yesterday - by changing them to be about the Saints. They uphold that the reason for the romantic connection is due to the belief that birds mated on that day, and therefore, it is a day for romantic pairing. It was commonly believed that if you pinned a bayleaf to your pillow on February 14th, that night you dreamed about your one true love.
Romantic Movies
Valentine's Day Game
Here is a great game that can be enjoyed by any age group. It can be played for Valentine's Day, but it is also an easy way to keep the kids occupied on a road trip!
Love Story
Hand out pencils & papers to everyone. (Legal size paper makes things easier.) Ask them to write the name of a female - someone present or a celebrity or historical figure that everyone will know - across the top of the page. Fold the page down far enough to cover the writing and pass the paper to the person next to you. Now everyone writes "went to" & picks a place - city, room, landmark, etc. Fold the paper down to cover the writing again & pass it to the person next to you. Everyone writes "So she could" and adds the verb of their choice. Fold & pass. Now write the name of a male everyone knows and add "showed up". Fold & Pass. Next write "He said" and write a one sentence statement. Fold & pass. Write "So she gave him a" and add a romantic adjective - chocolate, throbbing, passionate, lacy, etc. Fold and pass. Next everyone writes a noun & adds "and said I Love you". Fold & pass. Lastly, everyone writes "so he" and adds a verb.
Pass the paper to the person next to you one more time, and then everyone takes turns opening the paper and reading the "Love Story" aloud to the group. We guarantee you that there will be so many laughs that you won't be able to stop at just one!
This game can also be played by having one person do the writing and asking the group to agree on a name, noun, verb, etc., and then reading the story aloud.
Heart T-shirts for Valentine's Day and Any Day
Celebrate your passion on Valentine's day and everyday with this collection of swirling hearts.
Let the world know that you have a heart of Passion with this t-shirt featuring a winged heart with flames & vines.
Tell all those boys to eat their hearts out with this Love Vixen t-shirt featuring a heart for the letter 'V'.
There's nothing purer than doggie love! Have fun with this You had me at Woof tee featuring two Scottish Terriers.
Turtles mate for life, which is a love to celebrate since many of them live longer than humans! Have fun with this cute Turtle Love t-shirt.
Beautiful gothic patterned heart to show your love, affection, or deep passion!
Let your love take flight with this Winged Heart t-shirt in styles for him or her.
Celebrate the love on Valentine's Day with this heart design t-shirt, hoodie, note cards or journal.
Of course we need a Spanish Heart tee, so here it is: El Corazon, with a graphic based on the Le Loteria game played across Mexico.
If opposites attract, if there's give and take in love, then there must be a Yin Yang of Hearts!
Valentine's Day is for friends, too! Here's a cute t-shirt featuring a bee asking a butterfly with heart-shaped wings Let's Be Friends.
For days when a black heart expresses how you feel, here is a t-shirt with a beautifully ornate Gothic Heart for him or for her.
Here is an absolutely beautiful sacred heart design for t-shirts, journals, notecards, decorative pillows & other items for gifts and for your home.
Here's a beautifully feminine heart of flowers to celebrate the month of love, spring, or to satisfy a floral wish any time of year.
Funky winged heart in colors of the rainbow for Valentine's Day or every day of the year.
To see many, many more Valentine's Day t-shirts, or shirts on your favorite passion, visit LingoTshirts.com!
1858 --- Mendelssohn’s "Wedding March" was presented for the first time, as the daughter of Queen
1870 --- G.D. Dows patented the ornamental soda fountain. The marble fountain featured a double stream draft arm and sold for $225! Make that a strawberry soda with two scoops of vanilla, please!
1890 --- The United Mine Workers of America was founded.
1915 --- Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone, inaugurated
1924 --- The 1st Winter Olympic Games were inaugurated in
1945 ---
1949 --- The first Emmys, the awards were presented in recognition of excellence in television performance and production. The event was the 1st Annual Los Angeles Emmy Awards (for programming which appeared in 194
and was presented by the
1959 --- American Airlines opened the jet age in the
1961 --- President Kennedy held the first presidential news conference carried live on radio and television.
1964 --- The Beatles reached the #1 spot on the music charts, as their hit single, I Want to Hold Your Hand, grabbed the top position in Cash Box magazine, as well as on the list of hits on scores of radio stations. It was the first #1 hit for the Beatles. Billboard listed the song as #1 on February 1. The group’s second #1 hit song, She Loves You, was also released this day -- but not on Capitol Records. It was on Swan Records (#4152). Other songs by The Beatles were released on Vee Jay (Please, Please Me), M-G-M (My Bonnie with Tony Sheridan), Tollie (Twist and Shout), Atco (Ain’t She Sweet) and the group’s own label, Apple Records, as well as Capitol.
1971 --- Charles Manson and three female members of his "family" were found guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit murder and seven counts of murder in the first degree. They were all sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1969 killings.
1980 --- Paul McCartney was released from a Tokyo jail where he had been imprisoned for nine days after trying to carry a half pound of marijuana through customs at the Tokyo airport.
1981 --- Jiang Qing, Mao's widow, was tried for treason and received a death sentence, which was subsequently commuted to life imprisonment.
1981 --- The 52 Americans held hostage by
1981 --- Super Bowl XV (at
1993 --- President Bill Clinton appointed his wife Hillary to lead a task force on health-care reform.
1993 --- Sears announced, after 97 years, it was closing its catalog sales department. The Sears Catalog was gone.
1998 --- Rampaging monkeys swooped down and attacked passersby in the Japanese seaside town of
1999 --- A powerful earthquake of a magnitude of 6.0 on the Richter scale rocked the el Eje Cafetero, in the coffee growing region of
January 25
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1961
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* information from KALW 91.7 San Francisco - listen online!
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