This Day in History: First Groundhog Day

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 Bill Murray movie 'Groundhog Day' popularized the use of the term to mean something that is repeated over and over