As a marketer, I understand the need for more holidays. As a human being, I’m not the biggest fan of Valentine’s Day. After all, why not be nice to someone you love every day?
If you’re a fellow Valentine’s Day hater, here’s a fun list of the worst things to happen on February 14th (thanks Wikipedia for the help):
- Back in 1349, several hundred Jews were burned to death by mobs. The remainder of their population is forcibly removed from the city of Strasbourg. Even if you’re a religious jew not celebrating Valentine’s Day, a murderous mob will still ruin your day.
- In 1891, the American war hero William Tecumseh Sherman died.
- V’Day, 2003: Dolly, the Scottish cloned sheep, died. She was just 7. And cloned. Which is weird.
- The Saint Valentine’s Day Massacre took place in 1929 where, instead of a nice box of chocolates, seven people were murdered in Chicago, largely as an act of retribution by Al Capone
- The “Stardust Disaster” took place in 1981, when a fire in a Dublin nightclub killed 48 people. Which, honestly, is not so romantic.
- On this day in 1913, Jimmy Hoffa, the union leader and mobster responsible for oodles of organized crime, is born.
- Valentine’s Day, 1989: Iranian leader Ruhollah Khomeini issued a Fatwa that encouraged Muslims to kill Salman Rushdie (author of The Satanic Verses).
- Lebanese self-made billionaire and business tycoon Rafik Hariri is killed on this day in 2005 – along with 21 others – when a massive amount of explosives are detonated near the St. George Hotel in Beirut.
- In 1979, Kabul-based militants kidnap Adolph Dubs, the American ambassador to Afghanistan. He is later killed in a gunfight. Fun stuff.
So…happy Valentine’s Day, everyone!
