Fun Finds for Valentine's Day..........

FACTS ABOUT CHOCOLATE

1. The botanical name of the chocolate plant is "Theobroma Cacao", which means "food of the Gods"
2. The word 'Chocolate' comes from the Aztec word "xocolatl", which means "bitter water".  
3. In 1579, English pirates raided a Spanish ship. Upon finding its cargo of precious cocoa beans they burned the whole ship--they mistook the beans for sheep dung.
4. Some health experts say the purer the chocolate, the better it is for you. Chocolate with a cocoa content of more than 50% is high in magnesium and contains calcium, potassium, sodium and iron. It also has vitamins A1, B1, B2, C, D and E.
5. British people are second only to the Swiss when it comes to chocolate consumption. The average Briton eats 8.6kg of chocolate per year.
6. Thirty four degrees centigrade. Chocolate melts at just below the temperature of the mouth.
7. Chocolate syrup was used for blood in the famous 45 second shower scene in Alfred Hitchcock's movie, "Psycho" which actually took 7 days to shoot.
8. Chocolate is poisonous to dogs, cats and other domestic pets. The ingredient theobromine over stimulates their cardiac and nervous systems, and can cause death.
9. Christopher Columbus is said to have brought chocolate back to Europe after he visited South America in about 1504 but it only reached Britain in the 17th century. At the time it was made into a drink; but only for the wealthy, because of high import duties.
10. Queen Victoria sent specially molded chocolate bars to British soldiers fighting in the Boer War, in South Africa, as a New Year's greeting.
11. In Japan, there is a Valentine's Day tradition called", or "obligation chocolate", which requires that women give inexpensive chocolate to all of the men in their lives.
12. Chocolate has always been included on all American and Russian space flights.
13. American chocolate manufacturers use around 1.5 billion pounds of milk.
14. In 2009, Americans consumed over 3.4 billion pounds of chocolate.
15. Men crave food that is high in fat and salt while women crave chocolate.

The Ideal Valentine's Location
A tiny heart-shaped island in the Adriatic Sea has become a holiday hit for St Valentine's Day after being discovered on Google Earth. Even the uninhabited island's owner didn't realise how perfectly heart-shaped the island off the Croatian coast was until he was swamped with requests from lovers to stay there.
'It has been incredible. We think it is the most perfect heart-shaped island in the world,' said Vlado Juresko, whose family owns the 130,000 square yard islet of Galesnjak, hastily renamed "Lovers' Island". 'Nobody lives there so if lovers really do want to spend time alone it's the perfect desert island. We always thought it looked a bit like a heart but since it's been on Google Earth everyone else has seen it too and the whole world seems to want to stay here.'

VALENTINE JOKES
Q: What do squirrels give for Valentine's Day?
A: Forget-me-nuts.

Q: What did the boy octopus say to the girl octopus?
A: Can I hold your hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand, hand?
 
Q: What did one snake say to the other snake?
A: Give me a little hug and a hiss, honey.

Q: What happens when you fall in love with a French chef?
A: You get buttered up.

Q: What is a vampire's sweetheart called?
A: His ghoul-friend.