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Valentine’s Day occurs every February 14. Across the United States and in other places around the world, candy, flowers and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint and where did these traditions come from? Find out about the history of Valentine’s Day, from the ancient Roman ritual of Lupercalia that welcomed spring to the card-giving customs of Victorian England.

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Perhaps unsurprisingly, the upsell of public discussion around mental illness has not resulted in a sudden increase in films about the subject. It’s a complex topic, rarely box-office gold. But the acknowledgement that mentally ill characters shouldn’t be consigned to the asylum of the criminally insane, like Psycho’s Norman Bates, dates back some time now. From One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975) to A Beautiful Mind (2001) to Silver Linings Playbook (2012), there has been more of a consensus that the mentally ill are protagonists, not villains, and deserve a sympathetic hearing.

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The story goes that ‘Blue Monday’ is the ‘most depressing day of the year’ based on a calculation of factors such as weather, debt levels, time since Christmas and time since failing our new year’s resolutions. In truth, Blue Monday was created in 2006 by PR people to sell summer holidays – to hook us into spending money to make us feel better. In the decade since Blue Monday was conceived in an advertising agency brainstorm, public awareness of mental health has improved greatly, but there is still a lot to do.

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Through the nineteenth century, national resentment of the abuses of alcohol and its consumption in saloons grew slowly but incessantly. Alcohol consumption was considered a demoralizing and dangerous habit, a deplorable institution, and a form of social slavery. The proposals for prohibiting the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcohol started at a local level, initiated by prohibition movements such as the Anti-Saloon League and the Woman’s Christian Temperance Movement. Large-scale producers went bankrupt, and corruption reached unprecedented levels. Instead of reducing crime, poverty, and violence, prohibition had sparked organized crime, bootlegging, and worsened drinking habits.

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Have you seen all those English-speaking movies where characters kiss each other after the famous countdown? Well, it is a long-held tradition that dates back to ancient Rome as some historians say. The Romans knew how to party, and would throw a big celebration every year called the Festival of Saturnalia. Presumably, a lot of debauchery and kissing would happen, and this tradition filtered down to the rest of Europe. But there are other theories, check them out in the following link.

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Christmas traditions around the world are diverse, but share key traits that often involve themes of light, evergreens and hope. Probably the most celebrated holiday in the world, our modern Christmas is a product of hundreds of years of both secular and religious traditions from around the globe, many of them centered on the winter solstice. Discover the origins of Christmas traditions from around the world like the Yule log, carolling and candy canes and learn how Christmas is celebrated “Down Under.”

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There is an art to anger. From a furious Christ pummelling merchants in a 14th-Century fresco by Giotto to a window-smashing spree in Beyoncé’s 2016 music video Hold Up, cultural history is punctuated with punchy images that are more than a little hot under the collar. Such works see wrath and rage not as the shameful antitheses of composure and control but as raw and vital in comprehending who we are. Rarely as celebrated or adored as works devoted to love and affection, these studies in abject aggression are no less profound in their meditation on the full palette of pigments with which we paint ourselves into being. Anger may not be angelic, but it is human and deserves some respect.

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