When did Valentine's Day start?

Several early Christian martyrs named Valentine were honoured on 14 February, including a Roman priest said to have been executed around AD 269. Pope Gelasius I set 14 February as the feast of Saint Valentine in 496. The connection with love is often traced to the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer, whose poem Parlement of Foules, written around 1382, links the day with birds choosing their mates. By the 1700s, people in Britain were exchanging handwritten notes and tokens of affection. Mass-produced cards spread in the 19th century, and today about 145 million Valentine cards are exchanged in the United States each year.