You will have likely heard of Groundhog Day, largely thanks to the Bill Murray movie of the same name. But what is it? The answer lies in the US Midwest as anticipation builds for the 2024 event to unfold.
As it begins to emerge from the winter cold, every year, eyes turn to a small town in Pennsylvania on February 2 to see if a groundhog, known as Punxsutawney Phil, will see his shadow.
What is Groundhog Day?
According to the legend, if the creature, named after the Pennsylvania town, sees its shadow, that means six more weeks of winter.
It’s a piece of American folklore that has taken on a life of its own.
Each year, Punxsutawney hosts a mass Groundhog Day gathering, including many who fly in from outside the US, for the ultimate weather report. Much of the appeal stems from Murray's popular 1993 movie.
There's much that could be written about how the quirky meet-up evolved from its early beginnings in Germany before making its way to Punxsutawney in 1886, but I'll leave that to the Groundhog Day organisers.
Instead, I will skip right to the heart of the matter: the generations of groundhogs named Punxsutawney Phil.
Has Punxsutawney Phil ever got a prediction wrong?
Full disclosure: I’ve never actually attended a Groundhog Day event despite, at one point, living approximately an hour away from Punxsutawney. That being said, I did cover a few small stories surrounding the tradition.
One of these was in 2013. As a general assignment reporter covering central Pennsylvania at the time, I was tasked with meeting the rodent himself.
It was a year when poor Phil got it wrong. A prediction of a brisk winter was upended by a seemingly endless freeze.
As a result, a lawyer tried to have the groundhog extradited from Pennsylvania to an Ohio courtroom on charges of misleading the public.
It was a brilliant PR stunt. As part of the story, I interviewed the group tasked with keeping an eye on Phil, who resides in a comfortable enclosure known as Phil’s Burrow. It is located within the Punxsutawney Library, near the children’s books section.
These dedicated guardians are known as the “inner circle”, and they lovingly refer to Phil as the “prognosticator of prognosticators".
While the story itself was unremarkable, I do remember being surprised by a few things.
I recall Phil being transported in an open and relatively spacious circular plastic cage, before being taken out by one of his handlers for the interview.
I also remember that if the library isn’t open, you can actually see Phil’s Burrow from the outside — of course, I snapped myself in front of his digs.
Sitting here thousands of miles away in an Abu Dhabi newsroom, I am glad that Groundhog Day remains a big part of Punxsutawney tradition.
It is a story of the “little guy” fighting the elements and it sheds light on a quirky piece of American history.
History's medical milestones
1799 - First small pox vaccine administered
1846 - First public demonstration of anaesthesia in surgery
1861 - Louis Pasteur published his germ theory which proved that bacteria caused diseases
1895 - Discovery of x-rays
1923 - Heart valve surgery performed successfully for first time
1928 - Alexander Fleming discovers penicillin
1953 - Structure of DNA discovered
1952 - First organ transplant - a kidney - takes place
1954 - Clinical trials of birth control pill
1979 - MRI, or magnetic resonance imaging, scanned used to diagnose illness and injury.
1998 - The first adult live-donor liver transplant is carried out
Cinco in numbers
Dh3.7 million
The estimated cost of Victoria Swarovski’s gem-encrusted Michael Cinco wedding gown
46
The number, in kilograms, that Swarovski’s wedding gown weighed.
1,000
The hours it took to create Cinco’s vermillion petal gown, as seen in his atelier [note, is the one he’s playing with in the corner of a room]
50
How many looks Cinco has created in a new collection to celebrate Ballet Philippines’ 50th birthday
3,000
The hours needed to create the butterfly gown worn by Aishwarya Rai to the 2018 Cannes Film Festival.
1.1 million
The number of followers that Michael Cinco’s Instagram account has garnered.
How Beautiful this world is!
The specs: Lamborghini Aventador SVJ
Price, base: Dh1,731,672
Engine: 6.5-litre V12
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 770hp @ 8,500rpm
Torque: 720Nm @ 6,750rpm
Fuel economy: 19.6L / 100km
MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League semi-final, first leg
Bayern Munich v Real Madrid
When: April 25, 10.45pm kick-off (UAE)
Where: Allianz Arena, Munich
Live: BeIN Sports HD
Second leg: May 1, Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid
At a glance
Fixtures All matches start at 9.30am, at ICC Academy, Dubai. Admission is free
Thursday UAE v Ireland; Saturday UAE v Ireland; Jan 21 UAE v Scotland; Jan 23 UAE v Scotland
UAE squad Rohan Mustafa (c), Ashfaq Ahmed, Ghulam Shabber, Rameez Shahzad, Mohammed Boota, Mohammed Usman, Adnan Mufti, Shaiman Anwar, Ahmed Raza, Imran Haider, Qadeer Ahmed, Mohammed Naveed, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan
Thor: Ragnarok
Dir: Taika Waititi
Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, Jeff Goldblum, Mark Ruffalo, Tessa Thompson
Four stars
MATCH INFO
Europa League final
Who: Marseille v Atletico Madrid
Where: Parc OL, Lyon, France
When: Wednesday, 10.45pm kick off (UAE)
TV: BeIN Sports
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Regional Qualifier
The top three teams progress to the Asia Qualifier
Final: UAE beat Qatar by nine wickets
Third-place play-off: Kuwait beat Saudi Arabia by five runs
Table
1 UAE 5 5 0 10
2 Qatar 5 4 1 8
3 Saudi 5 3 2 6
4 Kuwait 5 2 3 4
5 Bahrain 5 1 4 2
6 Maldives 5 0 5 0
ATP WORLD No 1
2004 Roger Federer
2005 Roger Federer
2006 Roger Federer
2007 Roger Federer
2008 Rafael Nadal
2009 Roger Federer
2010 Rafael Nadal
2011 Novak Djokovic
2012 Novak Djokovic
2013 Rafael Nadal
2014 Novak Djokovic
2015 Novak Djokovic
2016 Andy Murray
2017 Rafael Nadal
2018 Novak Djokovic
2019 Rafael Nadal
The Good Liar
Starring: Helen Mirren, Ian McKellen
Directed by: Bill Condon
Three out of five stars
