The Good:
Valentine's Day is that time of the year when cards,
flowers, candy, jewelry, and other tokens of affection are given to loved ones
in the name of St. Valentine. But who is
St. Valentine and why do we celebrate his holiday every year?
One legend says Valentine was a priest in the third century
in Rome. Emperor Claudius II decided single
men made better soldiers so he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine defied Claudius and continued to
perform marriages for young lovers in secret.
Claudius ordered him put to death.
Another story has Valentine killed for attempting to help Christians
escape harsh Roman prisons where they were beaten and tortured.
And yet another story says Valentine was the one who sent
the first Valentine greeting while he was in prison. He fell in love with a young girl, possibly
the jailor's daughter, who visited him while he was imprisoned. Before his death, he wrote her a letter and
signed it From your Valentine, an
expression that has transcended time to continue as a common expression for the
holiday.
St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, is a combination
of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition.
One theory says we celebrate Valentine's Day in the middle of February
to commemorate the anniversary of Valentine's death or burial which probably
occurred around 270A.D., while others believe that the Christian church may
have decided to celebrate Valentine's feast day in the middle of February in an
effort to Christianize celebrations
of the pagan Lupercalia festival.
According to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated one
billion valentine cards are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the second
largest card sending holiday, surpassed only by the exchange of Christmas
cards. Valentine's Day is celebrated in
Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia in addition to the
United States.
The Bad:
The St. Valentine's Day massacre—the most spectacular
gangland slaying in mob history.
Al Capone (known
to be the mastermind, but never charged for the crime) had arranged for his
chief rival, Chicago mobster George 'Bugs' Moran and most of his North Side
Gang, to be eliminated on February 14, 1929.
The plan was simple and deviously clever, yet Capone's primary target
escaped any injury. Capone distanced himself
from the execution of the plan (and the execution of his rivals) by spending
the time at his home in Florida.
A bootlegger loyal to Capone was to draw Moran and his gang
to a warehouse to receive a shipment of smuggled whiskey, the delivery set for
10:30AM on Valentine's Day.
The morning of February 14 was cold and snowy. A group of Moran's men waited for Bugs at the
red brick warehouse at 2122 North Clark Street.
Moran was running late. When his
car turned the corner onto Clark Street, he spotted a police wagon pulling up
to the warehouse. Assuming it was a
raid, he watched as five men, three of them dressed in police uniforms, entered
the building. Moran and the two men with
him, immediately left the area.
Inside the warehouse, the hit men, disguised as police,
confronted Moran's men. Assuming it was
a routine bust, they followed instructions when ordered to line up against the
wall. The hit men opened fire with
Thompson submachine guns, killing six of the seven men immediately. The seventh man, with twenty-two bullet
wounds, survived the attack but died after arriving at the hospital.
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