What is Valentine’s Day –  Valentine’s Day is named after Saint Valentine, but the legend of St. Valentine is shrouded in mystery.    One legend is that Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome.  The Romans were at war, and the Roman Emperor at the time decided that single men made better soldiers than those with wives and families.  The Emperor forbade men to marry.  Valentine realized this was an injustice and continued to perform marriages.  Another legend states an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first “Valentine” greeting to a young girl from a jail cell.  A common thread is that most St. Valentine stories suggest he was a heroic and romantic figure.

Why Valentine’s Day?At the end of the 5th century, Pope Gelasius declared February 14 St. Valentine’s Day, but it was not until the Middle Ages, that it was considered a day for romance.  Sending Valentine greetings was made popular in the Middle Ages as well, although written Valentine’s didn’t begin to appear until after 1400.

Valentine’s Day cardsValentine’s Day is celebrated in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia.   By the early 1900’s printed Valentine’s Day cards began to replace hand written romantic Valentine’s notes.

Esther A. Howland began selling the first mass-produced valentines in America. Howland, is known as the “Mother of the Valentine.”  In 1847, she received an English Valentine and became fascinated with the idea of making similar Valentine’s.  She began taking orders for Valentine’s and soon the demand outweighed the amount she could make, so a company was born.  It is estimated she made more than $100,000 annually selling Valentine’s cards.

Fun Valentine Facts:

Christmas is upon us again and more than any other time of year, it’s the time of year where people put strain on their electrical system.  The lights on your house and the beautiful decorations you’ve been storing in your attic finally are brought out and plugged in for your friends and neighbors to view and appreciate.  And, of course, the vast majority of homes you visit have at least one Christmas tree.  Since most of these things are electrical, it’s probably not a surprise to you that, as a top Dallas electrician, I start getting a lot of calls this time of year.  Though it’s always nice to have the business with Christmas so close, I thought it’d be great to share with ways to avoid wiring problems with your Christmas decorations this year:

 In general, there are a few important tips that can help you avoid wiring problems.  If your lights look frayed or dangerous, they should always be replaced or repaired before using them, frayed wiring are hazardous.  You should take care that your electrical source is safe before you even begin the installation process.  To avoid the potential for overloads, you should have dedicated circuits installed for your holiday decorations.

Most importantly, you should never try to supply power for your lights without contacting a top Dallas electrician to help you install the necessary equipment and make the necessary safety precautions.  Short cuts are potentially dangerous. I can remember one example where a customer had supplied power to their lights by splicing an extension cord directly into their circuit breaker box!  Even worse, they’d shut the breaker box door, pinching the cabling!  Left unchecked, even if this hadn’t started a fire, damage from a power surge or overload could have easily destroyed their whole breaker, meaning they’d have to spend thousands to repair the damage at the absolute worst time of year!

In April 1999, Wayne Gretzky played his final game in the National Hockey League. Gretzky had played 20 seasons and was considered by many to be the greatest the sport had ever seen.

2) OMG, Myspace Is, Like, Totally Awesome!

Excitement spread like wildfire through American culture as the cable modem brought the promise of a faster future. In April 1999, we still had the strange robot music of the 56k dial-up modem ringing in our ears. This page would have taken a lot longer to load back then.

4) Do You Believe In Fame after Fame?

Cher’s April reign only lasted three days before TLC reached the apex of popularity, stealing the number one spot on the Billboard Hot 100 list.

6) Goth Culture Gets a Careful Examination

For intentionally lying in court during a sexual harassment civil lawsuit, President Bill Clinton was cited with contempt of court. This was not a proud moment for anyone. By comparison, it has been a tame 15 years of presidential history!

8) Mind-Controlled Technology Hath Arrived…

On April 23rd, the BBC reported that newly discovered skull and tooth fragments may belong to a “human-like species” that lived 2.5 million years ago. There was a lot of controversy initially, but there has since been a general consensus that the Australopithecus garhi, as the species was named, is the most immediate ancestor to the human genus, Homo.

10) Eminem: Straight Blowin Up

The Hours by Michael Cunningham won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in April, 1999. The book would later be made into an Oscar-winning movie starring Meryl Streep.

12) Pulitzer Prize for Drama

In April, we got yet another indication that American culture was infatuated with the genre of romantic comedy as Never Been Kissed, starring Drew Barrymore and David Arquette, hit the box offices.

14) Billy Joel Retires…Psych!

Surely, tears were flowing on the faces of day-time TV enthusiasts when NBC announced the cancellation of the long-running, iconic soap opera Another World. Only a few months later, the final episode would air, and, instead of watching Another World, fans would have to watch something else. Maybe the actual world?