{"id":4689,"canonical_url":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1887ce-feb-2--4689","name":"1887 CE, February 2","year":1887,"era":"CE","month":2,"day":2,"url":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1887ce-feb-2--4689","iso-date":"1887-02-02","precision":"year-month-day","description":"\u003cp\u003eReportedly, the first \"official\" Groundhog day event takes place on February 2, 1887 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania in the Gobbler's Knob part of town. People have gathered there annually for the event to see if a groundhog (\"Punxsutawney Phil\"), sees his shadow, which means six more weeks of winter and If he didn't, it means spring was approaching.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c/p\u003e","additional_details":"\u003cp\u003eGroundhog Day's roots are traced back to the 4th century Christian holiday of Candlemas, which was also based around predicting the weather;\u0026nbsp; people brought candles to church to be blessed in hopes of gracing households through the rest of winter. Fair, bright weather on Candlemas meant that winter would linger, while clouds suggested that spring was on the way—an idea echoed in songs dating to the 1500s.\u003c/p\u003e","photo":"","created_at":"2026-02-02T11:45:09-08:00","updated_at":"2026-02-02T12:15:16-08:00","breadcrumbs":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"February History","item":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/february"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"February 2","item":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/february-2"}]},"schema":{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Thing","@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1887ce-feb-2--4689#eventK365","name":"1887 CE, February 2","headline":"Reportedly, the first \u0026quot;official\u0026quot; Groundhog day event takes place on February 2, 1887 in Punxsutawney,... - 1887 CE","description":"Reportedly, the first \"official\" Groundhog day event takes place on February 2, 1887 in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania in the Gobbler's Knob part of town. People...","url":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/events/1887ce-feb-2--4689","additionalType":"HistoricalEvent","inLanguage":"en","datePublished":"2026-02-02T11:45:09-08:00","dateModified":"2026-02-02T12:15:16-08:00","publisher":{"@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/#organizationK365"},"temporalCoverage":"1887-02-02","isPartOf":[{"@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/#websiteK365"},{"@type":"CollectionPage","@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/february","name":"What Happened in February History"},{"@type":"CollectionPage","@id":"https://www.kudos365.com/today-in-history/february-2#pageK365","name":"What Happened on February 2"}]}}