Valentines Day Quiz
Cupid, Chaucer, heart-shaped boxes and White Day: 15 questions on the most romantic day of the year.
On which date is Valentine's Day celebrated each year?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
14 February
Valentine's Day falls on 14 February, the feast day of Saint Valentine in the Christian calendar. Pope Gelasius I established the feast in 496, and it only became linked with romance in the late Middle Ages.
Mexico, Guatemala and other Latin American countries call it the Day of Love and Friendship, Día del Amor y la Amistad, and celebrate friends as well as partners.
Which Roman god, shown as a winged boy with a bow and arrows, became the mascot of Valentine's Day?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Cupid
Cupid is the Roman god of desire, the son of Venus, and anyone struck by his golden arrow was said to fall helplessly in love. Renaissance painters turned the Greek youth into the chubby winged infant on today's cards.
Cupid's lead-tipped arrows caused the opposite effect, repelling love, which is how Ovid explains the nymph Daphne fleeing from Apollo.
Which European city is nicknamed the City of Love?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Paris
Paris earned the City of Love tag through centuries of romantic associations, from Montmartre's artists to its Seine-side promenades. Tourists fixed so many love padlocks to the Pont des Arts that the city removed about 45 tonnes of them in 2015.
Paris is also called the City of Light, a name linked both to the Enlightenment and to its early adoption of street lighting.
Which Shakespeare play about star-crossed lovers made Verona a pilgrimage site for romantics?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet, written around 1595, is set in Verona, and the city now has a Casa di Giulietta with a balcony and a bronze statue. Volunteers known as the Juliet Club answer thousands of letters addressed to the heroine each year.
The 1936 Hollywood film cast 34-year-old Norma Shearer and 43-year-old Leslie Howard as the teenage lovers.
In Greek mythology, which god of love is the counterpart of the Roman Cupid?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Eros
Eros is the Greek god of love and desire, named as a primal force by Hesiod and later portrayed as the mischievous son of Aphrodite. The Romans renamed him Cupid, from cupido, meaning desire, and his Greek name survives in the word erotic.
The statue nicknamed Eros at London's Piccadilly Circus actually depicts his brother Anteros, the god of requited love.
In Sleepless in Seattle, Annie and Sam finally meet on Valentine's Day at the top of which landmark?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Empire State Building
The 1993 film ends on the observation deck of the Empire State Building, where Tom Hanks's widower and Meg Ryan's journalist meet for the first time on 14 February. The scene deliberately echoes the 1957 weepie An Affair to Remember.
In An Affair to Remember the planned skyscraper meeting goes wrong when Deborah Kerr's character is hit by a car on the way, the plot point Annie's friends sob over.
In Japan, women give chocolate on 14 February and men return the favour a month later on a day known as what?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
White Day
White Day falls on 14 March and was launched in 1978 by Japan's National Confectionery Industry Association as an answer day to Valentine's Day. Men are expected to give white-themed gifts such as white chocolate, marshmallows or jewellery, ideally worth more than what they received.
Japanese women distinguish giri-choco, obligation chocolate for colleagues, from honmei-choco, the real thing for a loved one.
Which ancient Roman festival, held each year from 13 to 15 February, is often suggested as a forerunner of Valentine's Day?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Lupercalia
Lupercalia was a purification and fertility rite in mid-February in which priests ran through Rome striking bystanders with strips of goatskin. Many popular histories tie it to Valentine's Day, though scholars note there is no firm evidence linking the two.
Mark Antony was serving as a Lupercalia priest in 44 BC when he famously offered Julius Caesar a crown, which Caesar refused.
Which British chocolate maker is credited with selling the first heart-shaped box of chocolates for Valentine's Day, in the 1860s?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Cadbury
Richard Cadbury, who ran the family firm with his brother George, produced a heart-shaped box of chocolates for Valentine's Day in 1868, pioneering the link between confectionery and romance. The ornate boxes were kept afterwards for storing love letters and keepsakes.
The Cadbury brothers moved production to Bournville in 1879 and built a model village so workers could escape Birmingham's slums.
In Finland, 14 February is called ystävänpäivä, a day dedicated to whom?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Friends
Finland's ystävänpäivä means Friend's Day, and people send cards and small gifts to friends rather than focusing on romance. Estonia adopted the same idea as sõbrapäev, a direct translation of the Finnish name.
In South Korea, singles who received nothing on Valentine's Day or White Day console themselves on 14 April, Black Day, with bowls of black bean noodles.
According to legend, Saint Valentine was executed in the third century on the orders of which Roman emperor?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Claudius II
Legend says Claudius II, who ruled from 268 to 270, had Valentine executed after the priest refused to renounce his faith, with later versions adding that Valentine secretly married soldiers the emperor had forbidden to wed. Historians note the marriage ban is unsupported by any record.
At least two early Valentines are recorded, a priest of Rome and a bishop of Terni, and the church is unsure whether they were the same man.
The oldest surviving valentine, a 1415 poem by Charles, Duke of Orléans to his wife, was written while he was held prisoner where?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
The Tower of London
Charles was captured at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 and spent about 25 years as a prisoner in England, part of it in the Tower of London. His poem to his wife Bonne, calling her his very gentle Valentine, is now held by the British Library.
Charles returned to France in 1440 and became a noted poet, hosting the young François Villon at his court in Blois.
Which medieval English poet's Parliament of Fowls is credited as the first work to link Valentine's Day with romantic love?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer's dream poem of about 1382 describes birds gathering on Saint Valentine's Day to choose their mates, the earliest surviving connection between the feast and courtship. He probably wrote it to honour the engagement of Richard II to Anne of Bohemia.
Chaucer's birds argue so long over which eagle should win the female that the goddess Nature postpones the decision for a year.
Who began mass-producing lace-trimmed valentine cards in Worcester, Massachusetts, in the late 1840s, earning the nickname Mother of the American Valentine?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
Esther Howland
Esther Howland, a Mount Holyoke graduate, was inspired by an English valentine imported through her father's stationery business and began assembling her own in 1847, hiring local women for an assembly line. Her New England Valentine Company was incorporated in 1870.
Howland never married, and she sold the business in 1881 to care for her ailing father.
Sweethearts conversation hearts were made for more than a century by which candy company, which went bankrupt in 2018?
Got a hunch? Pick the answer that feels right.
NECCO
The New England Confectionery Company, NECCO, introduced heart-shaped Sweethearts in 1901, building on the printed conversation lozenges that Daniel Chase devised in 1866. NECCO collapsed in 2018 and Spangler Candy bought the brand, relaunching the hearts in 2020.
Early conversation candies were larger scalloped lozenges printed with long lines such as Married in white, you have chosen right.
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All General Knowledge quizzes →About the Valentines Day Quiz
The oldest surviving valentine was written from a prison cell in 1415. Cadbury sold the first heart-shaped box of chocolates in the 1860s. In Japan, women do the giving on 14 February and men pay them back a month later. Valentine's Day has a longer and stranger history than the greetings card aisle suggests.
These 15 questions cover the legends of Saint Valentine and Cupid, the Roman festival often linked to the date, the poets and entrepreneurs who turned it into a celebration of love, and how it is marked around the world. It suits couples looking for a date-night challenge, teachers planning a February lesson and anyone who wants to win the pub quiz on the 14th.
You will find 15 multiple choice questions here, each with four options. Difficulty: Easy. Most people finish in about 6 minutes, and every answer comes with a short explanation and one extra fact worth keeping.
How to play
Read the question and pick one of the four answers. The correct answer is revealed straight away with a short explanation, then press Next question to keep going. At the end you get your score out of 15 and a full review of your round. Play again any time and the questions arrive in a fresh order. There is no timer and no account.
Good to know before you play
Who was Saint Valentine?
At least two early Christian martyrs named Valentine were honoured on 14 February, a priest of Rome and a bishop of Terni, and legend says one was executed under Emperor Claudius II.
Is the Valentines Day quiz hard?
Easy. Cupid, Paris and Romeo and Juliet are gentle openers; the oldest valentine, Chaucer and Esther Howland will test trivia fans.
Does the quiz cover Valentine's Day in other countries?
Yes. It asks about Japan's White Day and Finland's Friend's Day, and the explanations mention customs from Korea and Latin America.
Answer key: all 15 questions with explanations
- On which date is Valentine's Day celebrated each year?
14 February Valentine's Day falls on 14 February, the feast day of Saint Valentine in the Christian calendar. Pope Gelasius I established the feast in 496, and it only became linked with romance in the late Middle Ages. Mexico, Guatemala and other Latin American countries call it the Day of Love and Friendship, Día del Amor y la Amistad, and celebrate friends as well as partners. - Which Roman god, shown as a winged boy with a bow and arrows, became the mascot of Valentine's Day?
Cupid Cupid is the Roman god of desire, the son of Venus, and anyone struck by his golden arrow was said to fall helplessly in love. Renaissance painters turned the Greek youth into the chubby winged infant on today's cards. Cupid's lead-tipped arrows caused the opposite effect, repelling love, which is how Ovid explains the nymph Daphne fleeing from Apollo. - Which European city is nicknamed the City of Love?
Paris Paris earned the City of Love tag through centuries of romantic associations, from Montmartre's artists to its Seine-side promenades. Tourists fixed so many love padlocks to the Pont des Arts that the city removed about 45 tonnes of them in 2015. Paris is also called the City of Light, a name linked both to the Enlightenment and to its early adoption of street lighting. - Which Shakespeare play about star-crossed lovers made Verona a pilgrimage site for romantics?
Romeo and Juliet Romeo and Juliet, written around 1595, is set in Verona, and the city now has a Casa di Giulietta with a balcony and a bronze statue. Volunteers known as the Juliet Club answer thousands of letters addressed to the heroine each year. The 1936 Hollywood film cast 34-year-old Norma Shearer and 43-year-old Leslie Howard as the teenage lovers. - In Greek mythology, which god of love is the counterpart of the Roman Cupid?
Eros Eros is the Greek god of love and desire, named as a primal force by Hesiod and later portrayed as the mischievous son of Aphrodite. The Romans renamed him Cupid, from cupido, meaning desire, and his Greek name survives in the word erotic. The statue nicknamed Eros at London's Piccadilly Circus actually depicts his brother Anteros, the god of requited love. - In Sleepless in Seattle, Annie and Sam finally meet on Valentine's Day at the top of which landmark?
Empire State Building The 1993 film ends on the observation deck of the Empire State Building, where Tom Hanks's widower and Meg Ryan's journalist meet for the first time on 14 February. The scene deliberately echoes the 1957 weepie An Affair to Remember. In An Affair to Remember the planned skyscraper meeting goes wrong when Deborah Kerr's character is hit by a car on the way, the plot point Annie's friends sob over. - In Japan, women give chocolate on 14 February and men return the favour a month later on a day known as what?
White Day White Day falls on 14 March and was launched in 1978 by Japan's National Confectionery Industry Association as an answer day to Valentine's Day. Men are expected to give white-themed gifts such as white chocolate, marshmallows or jewellery, ideally worth more than what they received. Japanese women distinguish giri-choco, obligation chocolate for colleagues, from honmei-choco, the real thing for a loved one. - Which ancient Roman festival, held each year from 13 to 15 February, is often suggested as a forerunner of Valentine's Day?
Lupercalia Lupercalia was a purification and fertility rite in mid-February in which priests ran through Rome striking bystanders with strips of goatskin. Many popular histories tie it to Valentine's Day, though scholars note there is no firm evidence linking the two. Mark Antony was serving as a Lupercalia priest in 44 BC when he famously offered Julius Caesar a crown, which Caesar refused. - Which British chocolate maker is credited with selling the first heart-shaped box of chocolates for Valentine's Day, in the 1860s?
Cadbury Richard Cadbury, who ran the family firm with his brother George, produced a heart-shaped box of chocolates for Valentine's Day in 1868, pioneering the link between confectionery and romance. The ornate boxes were kept afterwards for storing love letters and keepsakes. The Cadbury brothers moved production to Bournville in 1879 and built a model village so workers could escape Birmingham's slums. - In Finland, 14 February is called ystävänpäivä, a day dedicated to whom?
Friends Finland's ystävänpäivä means Friend's Day, and people send cards and small gifts to friends rather than focusing on romance. Estonia adopted the same idea as sõbrapäev, a direct translation of the Finnish name. In South Korea, singles who received nothing on Valentine's Day or White Day console themselves on 14 April, Black Day, with bowls of black bean noodles. - According to legend, Saint Valentine was executed in the third century on the orders of which Roman emperor?
Claudius II Legend says Claudius II, who ruled from 268 to 270, had Valentine executed after the priest refused to renounce his faith, with later versions adding that Valentine secretly married soldiers the emperor had forbidden to wed. Historians note the marriage ban is unsupported by any record. At least two early Valentines are recorded, a priest of Rome and a bishop of Terni, and the church is unsure whether they were the same man. - The oldest surviving valentine, a 1415 poem by Charles, Duke of Orléans to his wife, was written while he was held prisoner where?
The Tower of London Charles was captured at the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 and spent about 25 years as a prisoner in England, part of it in the Tower of London. His poem to his wife Bonne, calling her his very gentle Valentine, is now held by the British Library. Charles returned to France in 1440 and became a noted poet, hosting the young François Villon at his court in Blois. - Which medieval English poet's Parliament of Fowls is credited as the first work to link Valentine's Day with romantic love?
Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer's dream poem of about 1382 describes birds gathering on Saint Valentine's Day to choose their mates, the earliest surviving connection between the feast and courtship. He probably wrote it to honour the engagement of Richard II to Anne of Bohemia. Chaucer's birds argue so long over which eagle should win the female that the goddess Nature postpones the decision for a year. - Who began mass-producing lace-trimmed valentine cards in Worcester, Massachusetts, in the late 1840s, earning the nickname Mother of the American Valentine?
Esther Howland Esther Howland, a Mount Holyoke graduate, was inspired by an English valentine imported through her father's stationery business and began assembling her own in 1847, hiring local women for an assembly line. Her New England Valentine Company was incorporated in 1870. Howland never married, and she sold the business in 1881 to care for her ailing father. - Sweethearts conversation hearts were made for more than a century by which candy company, which went bankrupt in 2018?
NECCO The New England Confectionery Company, NECCO, introduced heart-shaped Sweethearts in 1901, building on the printed conversation lozenges that Daniel Chase devised in 1866. NECCO collapsed in 2018 and Spangler Candy bought the brand, relaunching the hearts in 2020. Early conversation candies were larger scalloped lozenges printed with long lines such as Married in white, you have chosen right.
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