Singles' Day was created as a response to Valentine's Day

Check out Valentine's Day traditions from around the world

Valentine's Day is a holiday all about romance, but the way that's expressed differs depending on where the celebration takes place. This list breaks down some interesting takes on the holiday from across the globe, including mass weddings in the Philippines and Japan's gender-specific chocolate exchanges.

The average person celebrating Valentine's Day spends $189

That might include dinner, flowers, or something even more romantic. The most popular gift is candy, with 56% of people celebrating the holiday by purchasing sweets. That's about $2.5B in sales.

In 2024, the period between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday saw 197 million shoppers

Some argue Black Friday has gone from one day of the year, to two days of the year, including Cyber Monday sales, to, more recently, an entire week. In recent years, companies have offered steep discounts for a week at a time rather than just one or two days.

The Lunar New Year is a major driver in China's economy

The annual festival brings in billions of dollars in both foreign and domestic tourism. The 2026 holiday includes an additional day, something Chinese officials hope will provide an even bigger boost to the country's somewhat stubborn national retail sales.

In the 20th century, Valentine's Day became more commercialized

Historian Elizabeth Nelson notes that companies sought "to turn holidays into opportunities for selling things from candy to flowers to magazine advertisements" in the 1900s. Hallmark, founded in 1911, pushed the holiday toward elementary students, who aimed to collect cards from as many classmates as possible.

Valentine's Day is considered the end of 'proposal season'

Wedding website The Knot's internal study found that Christmas is the most popular day to propose. It also kicks off "proposal season," a monthslong season from Christmas to Valentine's Day that's a popular time for lovers to pop the question.

Day of the Dead differs from All Souls’ Day in several important ways

The holidays share a calendar date and both honor lost loved ones. However, All Souls’ Day is intended to help guide souls in purgatory to heaven, while Day of the Dead celebrates the temporary return of loved ones’ spirits to Earth.

American Express created 'Small Business Saturday' in 2010

As small businesses across the US were still reeling from the Great Recession, American Express came up with the idea of "Small Business Saturday" to help drive consumer spending to small businesses. Small Business Saturday is the day after Black Friday. In 2011, the Senate passed a resolution supporting Small Business Saturday, and, since then, it's become nationally recognized.

Here's how much money Americans spend on Halloween

In 2024, Americans are expected to spend more than $11B on Halloween, which averages out to roughly $104 per person, according to the National Retail Federation's Halloween Spending Survey, conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics. That $11B number includes an anticipated almost $4B spent on costumes. See the full breakdown here.

Fireworks usage on Independence Day comes from their celebratory use in ancient China

Burning bamboo stalks produces a small explosion that was believed to ward off evil spirits. As knowledge of fireworks, which initially used these stalks, carried over into other cultures, so did their use to promote good luck and celebration.

The myth of Santa Claus has partially caused a consumption-oriented holiday season

Yahoo pulled together a humorous collection of social media posts from people who seem to have forgotten that the holidays aren’t only about getting presents. The article is a sobering reminder to spend time with loved ones and show gratitude during the special season.

Some couples specifically try to birth children in the Year of the Dragon

Dragons are considered so lucky in Chinese culture that it's believed some couples time their children’s births to the Year of the Dragon. That’s debatable. Overall, birth rates in the country have fallen, and it’s not clear if a dragon-baby swell could counteract that.

'Loveflation' is making dating more expensive and less frequent

A survey found that more than half of Americans are going on fewer dates due to rising costs, with 27% stopping altogether. Gen Z and millennials are the hardest hit, with 62% reporting changes in their dating habits due to inflation.

'Red envelope' payments spurred WeChat's financial services growth

What started as a messaging platform morphed into much more with the advent of so-called red envelope payments, where friends, colleagues, and acquaintances recreate an age-old Chinese custom with the tap of a finger. The viral custom helped WeChat expand its digital payment services, effectively becoming a “superapp.”

The first Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade took place in 1924

It was originally intended to promote Macy’s upcoming holiday sales. Although it took place on Thanksgiving Day, the parade was initially called the Macy’s Christmas Parade—the name didn’t change until 1927.

In 2013, consumers reportedly purchased more beer on Cinco de Mayo than on Super Bowl Sunday or St. Patrick's Day

Beginning in the early 1980s, breweries positioned Cinco de Mayo as a "Mexican St. Patrick's Day," sponsoring events and targeting Latino consumers. Anheuser-Busch and Miller created Hispanic marketing departments, while Coors spent over $60 million marketing to Latino consumers.

The Hungry Ghost Festival in Asia honors the dead

A tradition in East and Southeast Asia, the Hungry Ghost Festival primarily involves offering food and other treats to the dead. The festivals' practices uphold the Buddhist ideals of generosity and compassion, directed even toward specters.

Chanel faced major backlash in 2021 over its $825 Advent calendar

Chanel’s $825 Advent calendar drew millions of views on TikTok after shoppers unboxed items like stickers, string bracelets, and a standard dust bag—products many felt didn’t match the luxury price. The viral controversy made the calendar one of the year's most criticized holiday releases.

The origins of Father's Day

Father's Day occurs on the third Sunday in June in the US. It was inspired by the same movement that advocated for Mother's Day, and was first celebrated in 1910. However, the day wasn't official until 1972, many decades after its counterpart, Mother's Day, was formally adopted as a holiday.

George Washington's birthday was a federal holiday until it was moved to the third Monday in February in 1968

Washington's February 22 birthday became a federal holiday in 1879. A 1968 law moved it to the third Monday in February, and decades of advertising popularized the unofficial name "Presidents' Day," which the federal government never formally adopted.

Danish cookies became a treasured Lunar New Year gift, thanks to their unique tin container

Hong Kong experienced an economic boom in the 1970s, which led to snacking, including on Western foods, becoming a cultural norm. Kjeldsens butter cookies became a popular treat, and their packaging, a distinct tin container, presented them as more refined than a simple snack. Instead, they were considered a worthwhile present for Lunar New Year.

Mother's Day is one of the restaurant industry's biggest days

Brunch is a popular activity for the holiday, leading to large parties, long lines, and big checks—in 2023, the National Retail Federation anticipated $5.6B spent on a meal or outing. That's made Mother's Day a notorious day for service workers, with CNN calling it "The most hated day in the restaurant industry."

The winter solstice has been celebrated globally for millennia

From gatherings at Stonehenge in the UK to celebrations of the triumph of Mithra in Iran, cultures around the world have marked the shortest day of the year in a variety of ways for a very long time. Here are eight known to us today that endure.

The best items to buy at dollar stores, according to a financial expert

Experts advise purchasing items like greeting cards, pregnancy tests, candy, gift and party supplies, and other items from the dollar store to maximize savings.

The dating app Hinge markets itself as 'designed to be deleted'

Harvard graduate Justin McLeod started Hinge in 2011. Since then, despite competition from larger apps like Bumble and Tinder, it's grown into the third-largest dating app by market share in the US, bringing in roughly $396M in revenue as of 2023.

Fast-casual restaurant Chili's is experiencing a resurgence, with its parent company recently reporting a nearly 32% increase in sales, thanks to passionate Gen Z fans on TikTok.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

11 people died from firework injuries in the US in 2024.

Sears sold DIY house kits starting at $600 in its famous catalog from 1908 through the 1940s, resulting in roughly 10,000 'Sears and Roebuck houses' being built.

The name 'Silicon Valley' arose from the founding of Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Fairchild Semiconductor in 1956-57, founded near Stanford University in Palo Alto

The US dollar is the most widely circulated currency in the world, and is involved in nearly 90% of global transactions

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

The identity of the Tank Man in the iconic photo from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests remains unknown and was possibly killed.

A 2019 Facebook event called on attendees to "Storm Area 51, They Can't Stop All of Us," resulting in countless memes, the creation of a music festival, and eventually the arrests of those who did try to approach the area.

NBA superstar Victor Wembanyama spent the 2025 summer training with monks in central China to enhance his body and mind.

One disco producer saw 'Star Wars' four times on its opening weekend and was so inspired that he recorded the album 'Star Wars and Other Intergalactic Funk,' which produced a chart-topping single.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

The most expensive ad of all time was for Chanel No. 5 perfume and cost roughly $33M to produce in 2004—about $57M in today's dollars.

Mark Twain spent decades feuding with the US Postal Service, convinced its costs and regulations were bureaucratic overreach.

Salvador Dalí believed he was his own dead brother, who had died nine months before he was born

El Niño, Spanish for 'the boy,' was named after Jesus Christ because the phenomenon resembled the weather changes observed around Christmastime.

Meet the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence—most of whom didn't put pen to paper until August 2, 1776—and see their original signatures.

20,000 letters to the advice columnist 'Dear Abby' provide insight into prevailing sex, religion, and LGBTQ fears, anxieties, and concerns from the 1950s onward.

The 1987 Nintendo video game 'Stadium Events' isn't known for being particularly fun, but its scarcity has made it a highly sought-after item that has sold for up to $35K at auction.

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

Bone marrow (soft tissue found inside certain bones) generates roughly 500 billion new blood cells each day

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by over 1.5 million Muslims.

Some researchers have labeled nomophobia, the fear of being without your phone, as 'the phobia of the 21st century.'