FEBRUARY 2 — 1887 1st Groundhog Day/Seattle Seahawks win Super Bowl; 1781 Nathaniel Greene finds reinforcements in N. Carolina; 1892 William Painter patents bottle cap
FEBRUARY 2
1887 – First Groundhog Day. In a small town called Punxsutawney about 90 miles southeast of Pittsburg, German settlers brought a holiday called Candlemass Day. February 2nd is the midway point of t he winter, and candles would be lit as a ritual, or superstition I suppose, to hope for as fair weather as possible for the remainder of the winter. The Germans used the poem: For as the sun shines on candlemas Day, So far will the snow swirl until May. For as the snow blows on Candlemas Day, So far will the sun shine before May. Or, as is said here in America, If the sun shines on Groundhog day, half the fuel and half the hay. The groundhog, which was a hedgehog in Germany, comes out of its hibernation temporarily, and if the sun’s out it will see a shadow, thus predicting the rest of the winter. In Pennsylvania, this holiday is a big deal at Gobbler’s Knob. Phil is the town weather predictor, and while most groundhogs live on grasses, dandelions and clover, Phil lives on dog food and ice cream. He lives in a climate controlled environment at the Punxsutawney Library and as human beings gather around to watch his prediction, he comes out at 7:25 a.m., says hi, then goes back to sleep for another 6 weeks. Something like that. According to stormfax.com, Phil’s prediction has only been correct 39% of the time. In fact, in 2014 Phil took the Denver Broncos to win the Super Bowl Phil could not have been more wrong. That game started with a Seattle safety and then a kick return for a touchdown. Broncos quarterback not only was intercepted by Malcolm Smith, he was intercepted by Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers The total of that game would be Seattle Seahawks 43, broncos 8, their fifth Super Bowl loss. Omaha!
1781 – nathanael green finds reinforcement in North Carolina. After thedecisive British defeat at the hands of General Daniel Morgan in battle of Cowpens, British General Cornwallis was after Greene, who had retreated to the south. If Cornwallis could catch up to Greene and defeat himk, the British would hold the south. Greene attempted to meet his militia at Cowan’s Ford in Mecklenburg Conty in North Carolina. But as he found out, his militia was defeated and General William Davidson was killed. Geene rode to Steele’s Tavern through a very cold storm, and arrived on February 2, 1781, alone, exhausted, penniless, and desperate. The tavern keeper, Mrs. Steele made sure to take care of Greene, and gave him two bags of money and a much needed breakfast. But it wasn’t just the food and the money that changed his mood, it was her kindness and patriotism that reminded Greene why the fight must continue. Greene got up, took a portrait hanging on the wall of George III that was given to Mrs. Greene sometime before, and on the back he wrote with chalk: O George, Hide thy face and mourn, before turning it to face the wall. And he hung it on the wall backwards. That picture is still there at the Thyatria Presbyterian Chuch Museum in Salisbury, North Carolina. Greene’s circumnsances seem to change right then, as he found over 1700 Continental arms stashed away for the army.
1892 – William Painter from Baltimore patents the bottle cap with cork seal. the bottle opener, a machine for crowning bottles, a paper-folding machine, a safety ejection seat for passenger trains, and a machine for detecting counterfeit currency. He was inducted to the National Inventors Hall of Fame in 2006