This Day in History:
The First Groundhog Day February 2, 1887 Groundhog Day was celebrated
for the first time at Gobbler’s Knob
in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. Tradition has it that if a groundhog comes
out of its hole on this day and sees its
shadow, it runs back into its burrow,
predicting six more weeks of winter. No shadow means
an early spring. In 1887, a newspaper editor
declared that Phil, the
Punxsutawney groundhog, was
America’s only true weather-forecasting groundhog. The line of groundhogs that
have since been known as Phil
are America’s most famous marmots. The 1993 movie, 'Groundhog Day,'
starring Bill Murray, popularized
the usage of the term to mean
something that is repeated over and over.