1. Groundhog Day, celebrated on Feb. 2 in the United States and Canada, is a holiday with its roots in European tradition. 

Customarily, if the groundhog emerges from its burrow on the 2nd and spots its shadow, it typically regards it as a bad omen and retreats back into the ground for six more weeks of winter. If the day is cloudy, however, and no shadow can be seen, it is believed to signify an early spring and the groundhog will stay above ground. 

2. Although the exact origin of the holiday and tradition is unknown, most trace its roots back to Europe , mostly to the Germany area. 

Some scholars have opposed this claim, noting that the holiday mirrors similar Celtic and pagan festivals in other parts of Europe that highlight animals and weather predictions. 

3. According to groundhog.org, the official site of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club, the American commemoration of Groundhog Day began in the 1800s with Pennsylvania's earliest settlers, who were German. These settlers brought with them the legend of Candlemas Day, a Christian feast day, which states, "For as the sun shines on Candlemas Day, so far will the snow swirl in May..."

4. The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club claims that the first American observance of the holiday was recorded in Punxsutawney in 1886, and the Pennsylvania town has been celebrating the holiday ever since, making it the mecca of Groundhog Day revelries, and its groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, the veritable "diva" of the holiday. 

Some of Punxsutawney's celebrations have drawn upwards of 30,000 people to Gobbler's Knob, from which Phil emerges. And, of course, there is the classic Bill Murray movie , "Groundhog Day," that features the town and the celebration. 

5. But Connecticut has its own groundhog, Connecticut Chuckles, who resides at the Lutz Children's Museum in Manchester year round, and has vowed not to let the snow and sleet on Wednesday deter her from her annual prediction. She and Phil are not close.