Groundhog Day Used to Include Eating the Groundhog

Today is Groundhog Day, which is kind of a strange holiday. Like, we all know it's total nonsense, but it still manages to survive year after year.

It turns out that Groundhog Day is based on an old Christian holiday called Candlemas Day that was especially popular in Germany. The day was halfway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox, and it featured the whole "weather prediction" thing.

When German immigrants settled in Pennsylvania in the late 1800s, they brought the tradition with them. But the holiday didn't always go like it does today, it used to end with a big party where everyone would eat the groundhog.

4.2% of people believe the groundhog always gets his prediction right, and almost one out of five think he's right at least two-thirds of the time. He's not, by the way, Phil is only about 39% accurate, which is worse than a coin flip.

As for this year, 67% of people predicted Punxsutawney Phil would see his shadow, which means six more weeks of winter.