The first documented American reference to Groundhog Day can be
found in a diary entry, dated February 4, 1841, of storekeeper James
Morris of Morgantown, Pennsylvania.

The form of weather prognostication has its origins in ancient weather
lore of Europe.

Enos the chimp in a flight couch, about to make his space flight from 
Cape Canaveral, Florida

Mercury-Atlas 5 was a unmanned spaceflight of the Mercury program. It
was launched with a 5 1/2 year old chimpanzee named Enos aboard. The
craft orbited the Earth twice and splashed down about 200 miles south of
Bermuda.

A copy of the first edition

Winnie-the-Pooh is the first volume of stories about Winnie-the-Pooh,
by A. A. Milne. It is followed by The House at Pooh Corner. The book
focuses on the adventures of a teddy bear called Winnie-the-Pooh
and his friends Piglet, a small toy pig; Eeyore, a toy donkey; Owl, a
live owl; and Rabbit, a live rabbit. The characters of Kanga, a toy
kangaroo, and her son Roo are introduced later in the book, in the
chapter entitled "In Which Kanga and Baby Roo Come to the Forest
and Piglet has a Bath." The bouncy toy-tiger character of Tigger is
not introduced until the sequel, The House at Pooh Corner. Portions
of Winnie-the-Pooh were adapted from previously published magazine
stories.

Alan Alexander Milne (January 18, 1882 – January 31, 1956)

Lassie was the creation of producer Robert Maxwell and animal trainer Rudd
Weatherwax and was televised on CBS from September 12, 1954, to March 
24, 1973. One of the longest-running series on television, the show aired
for seventeen seasons before entering first-run syndication for its final
two seasons. The show was initially filmed in black and white and made
the transition to color in 1965. .

Lassie with trainer Rudd Weatherwax