Who was this man named Saint Valentine? And why do we have a holiday named Valentine's Day? In this episode, we concisely trace the origins of the February holiday, from its pagan origins to the inventor of the modern tradition of it.

WORKS CITED:

1. Bitel, Lisa. "The Gory Origins of Valentine's Day." Smithsonianmag.com. The Conversation, February 14, 2018. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/gory-origins-valentines-day-180968156/

2. "History of Valentine's Day." History.com. History, updated February 6, 2026. https://www.history.com/articles/history-of-valentines-day

3. Little, Becky. "Nothing Says 'I Hate You' Like a 'Vinegar Valentine'." Smithsonianmag.com. Smithsonian Institution, February 10, 2017. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/nothing-says-i-hate-you-vinegar-valentine-180962109/

4. Pace, Madeleine. "Chaucer and the origins of Valentine's Day." The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, College of Arts and Sciences. The Well, February 14, 2020. https://college.unc.edu/2020/02/chaucer-valentines/

5. Ponti, Crystal. "Victorian-Era 'Vinegar' Valentines Could Be Mean and Hostile." History.com. History, updated May 28, 2025. https://www.history.com/articles/victorian-valentines-day-cards-vinegar

6. Smith, Jordan. "What Does the Bible Say About Valentine's Day?" History.com. History, February 11, 2026. https://www.history.com/articles/valentines-day-bible-religious-origins

7. Wakeman, Gregory. "Valentine's Day Had a Dark, Bloody Precursor." History.com. History, updated February 13, 2026. https://www.history.com/articles/dark-truth-valentines-day-lupercalia

What is stuttering? In this episode, Ian Evans, a person who stutters, elaborates what stuttering is and talks about some of the many historical celebrities who were known to have a stutter, and talks about his own life experiences with the disorder.

CORRECTION: It's actually Minnesota State University's website that contains the list of famous people who stutter, not the University of Minnesota. Please disregard what I said in the outro. These are the people that should get the credit.

WORKS CITED

1 THE STUTTERING FOUNDATION:

https://www.stutteringhelp.org/

THE NATIONAL STUTTERING ASSOCIATION:

https://www.westutter.org/

S MINNESOTA STATE UNIVERSITY'S LIST OF FAMOUS STUTTERERS:

4 https://ahn.mnsu.edu/services-and-centers/center-for-communication-sciences-and-disorders/services/stuttering/professional-education/convention-materials/archive-of-online-conferences/isad2004/stuttering-didnt-stop-them-some-famous-people-who-stutter/

STAMMA'S LIST OF FAMOUS STUTTERERS:

https://stamma.org/about-stammering/influential-people-who-stammer

FURTHER READING ON STUTTERING:

2. Adler, Sol, Agnello, Joseph G., Aten, James L., et. al. Advice to Those Who Stutter. 6th ed. Memphis, TN: Stuttering Foundation of America, 2011. Kindle.

1. Fraser, Malcolm. Self-Therapy for the Stutterer. 11th ed. Memphis, TN: Stuttering Foundation of America, 2010. Kindle.

FURTHER READING ON CLAUDIUS:

1. Dio, Cassius. Roman History. c. AD 230. Translated by Herbert Baldwin Foster. In The Complete Works of Cassius Dio, Kindle edition. Hastings, East Sussex: Delphi Classics, 2014.

2. Tacitus, P.C. The Histories. c. AD 100-110. Translated by Clifford H. Moore. In Complete Works of Tacitus, Kindle edition. Hastings, East Sussex: Delphi Classics, 2014.

3. Tranquillus, Gaius Suetonius. The Twelve Caesars. c. AD 120. Translated by Alexander Thomson. In The Complete Works of Suetonius, Kindle edition. Hastings, East Sussex: Delphi Classics, 2016.

FURTHER READING ON COTTON MATHER:

1. Nielsen, Kim E. A Disability History of the United States. Boston: Beacon Press, 2012.

SHOW NOTES:

Welcome to Saturday Night History? So now that you've stumbled across this time capsule of a podcast, ask yourself what is history? Why are we interested in it? Why is it important and why you should get acquainted with it? In this episode, proud history major (and future doctored historian, himself) Ian Evans concisely explores the aspects of history and how we can apply them in the real world.

WORKS CITED:

1. McCullogh, David. "Why History?" in History Matters, edited by Dorie McCullough Lawson and Michael Hill, 3-7. New York: Simon and Schuster, 2025.
2. All definitions were taken from both the Oxford Dictionary of English (OED) and Merriam-Webster's Dictionary.
3. You can find Oscar Wilde's quote on Goodreads at goodreads.com.