The Austin Chronicle

https://www.austinchronicle.com/columns/2020-02-14/mr-smarty-pants-knows/

Mr. Smarty Pants Knows

By Mr. Smarty Pants, February 14, 2020, Columns

Since 1991, every Valentine's Day, White Castle locations across the country transform themselves from fast food into "fine dining" establishments.

Some attribute the first Valentine's card as being sent by Charles, the Duke of Orléans, in 1415 to his wife while he was a prisoner in the Tower of London.

Did you get perfume or aftershave for Valentine's Day that you don't like? Banham Zoo in Norfolk, England, has put out a call for unwanted fragrances, because their big cats like them. The perfumes contain civetone, a type of lab-made pheromone.

The last Valentine's card sent by John Wilkes Booth was to Lucy Lambert Hale in 1865. According to Lucy's sister, Booth sent an anonymously signed, homemade card. He assassinated Abraham Lincoln about two months later on April 15, 1865.

Artist Esther Howland (1828–1904) was responsible for popularizing Valentine's Day cards in America.

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