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Long before Bill Murray released his 1993 cult-classic film “Groundhog Day,” Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, was already on the map. In 1887, a newspaper editor rallied a group of businessmen and groundhog hunters to sell people on the idea that we’ll either kiss winter goodbye or have six more weeks of it – dependent upon a groundhog.
Celebrated yearly on Feb. 2, the small town of 6,000 assembles around native groundhog Punxsutawney Phil’s burrow to see if he sees his shadow (meaning a prolonged winter). So how trustworthy is the ol’ woodchuck? Phil is only right about 40% of the time.
— Erin O’Brien, 360 Media, Inc.