2nd February 1887: First officially recorded Groundhog Day observance takes place in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania

The custom of predicting the weather using an animal drew on older beliefs brought to North America by German-speaking immigrants, whose tradition stated that clear weather on that date suggested a prolonged winter while overcast conditions indicated an early spring.

31st January 1918: Battle of May Island damages and sinks Royal Navy vessels during accidental collisions in thick fog

The Battle of May Island was not an actual battle but rather a peacetime disaster caused by miscommunication and navigational errors near the Isle of May in the Firth of Forth in Scotland during World War I.

31st July 1917: Battle of Passchendaele begins during the First World War, resulting in one of the muddiest battles of the conflict

The landscape was scarred by craters filled with water and, by the time the battle ended over three months later following the Canadian capture of the village of Passchendaele, there were approximately 500,000 casualties on both sides.

14th April 1935: Black Sunday dust storm sweeps across the Great Plains during the Dust Bowl era

The Black Sunday dust storm brought a massive wall of dust estimated to be over 2 miles high that engulfed entire communities in darkness and choking dust, reducing visibility to just a few feet.

14th April 1561: The Nuremberg celestial phenomenon sees a ‘dreadful apparition’ in the sky over the German city

Modern UFO enthusiasts have used the Nuremberg celestial phenomenon as evidence of extra-terrestrial life, although scientists have also put forward their own explanations of why hundreds of people saw what was described as an aerial battle raging in front of the sun.