29. After being taken prisoner, the Duke of Orleans sent the world’s first Valentine’s Day card to his wife
The very first Valentine’s Day card on record was sent way back in 1415 by Charles, the Duke of Orleans. The Duke had been taken prisoner following the French defeat to England at the Battle of Agincourt. He was locked up in the Tower of London, far away from his young wife. When Valentine’s Day came, he penned her a poem and asked his jailers to send it to his beloved. The romantic note a prized treasure of the British Library and is held in its rare manuscripts department in London.
