I'll be honest — before watching this video, I thought Valentine's Day was just a made-up holiday, one invented by the card and candy industries to sell us more stuff. But as it turns out, Valentine's Day has a much richer history than I gave it credit for. While the modern version of Valentine's Day has generally become an over-commercialized shopping fest, it's interesting to note where and how the holiday got started.

And maybe it's worth swapping cards and sweet treats just to celebrate the fact that the day is no longer symbolized by slapping women with animal skins to increase fertility.

History. It's good to know.

Check out this video from The History Channel about the origins of this sweet February holiday: