Groundhog Day Feb 2, 2025

Groundhog Day

It"s Groundhog Day … again. Today, Americans and Canadians rely on the prognostication skills of Punxsutawney Phil to determine if winter will hang on. Phil is a famous groundhog, also known as a woodchuck, and legend has it that if he emerges from his burrow February 2 and sees his own shadow, he"ll go back to sleep for another six weeks of winter. If he doesn"t, it will be an early spring. German immigrants brought the custom to America, where it was first celebrated in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, in 1887. Historically, Europeans celebrated February 2 as the first day of spring, and Germans originally watched badgers and other small animals for signs of seasonal change important to farmers. The Germans who settled in Pennsylvania in the 18th and 19th centuries chose the area"s native groundhog for this task.

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Today in History

Feb 2, 2018Alpine marmots at Hohe Tauern National Park, Austria
Feb 2, 2019Groundhog Day arrives—beyond a shadow of a doubt
Feb 2, 2020Hut, hut, hike!
Feb 2, 2021Did it see its shadow?
Feb 2, 2022Groundhog Day
Feb 2, 2023Groundhog Day
Feb 2, 2024Groundhog Day

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