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#1 out of 1
1d ago
People are only just learning the weird history behind Groundhog Day tradition
- The tradition blends European Candlemas with American groundhog lore, shaping today’s Groundhog Day in Pennsylvania.
- Candlemas, a Christian celebration, marks the start of the linked weather-forecasting cycle that influenced the Groundhog Day custom.
- In Europe, badgers or hedgehogs were watched for shadows; the habit later merged with Candlemas to form Groundhog Day in America.
- The inaugural official Groundhog Day was held in 1887 in Punxsutawney, where residents sought weather predictions from a groundhog.
- Locals adapted the tradition to use a groundhog instead of a badger and shifted forecasts from four to six weeks of winter.
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