Rising American rock stars Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P.
“The Big Bopper” Richardson, along with the pilot, were killed
when their chartered Beechcraft Bonanza plane crashed in
Iowa a few minutes after takeoff from Mason City on a flight
headed for Moorhead, Minnesota. Investigators blamed the
crash on bad weather and pilot error.

Pictured above is a Beechcraft Bonanza similar to the one
chartered for the flight.  

Memorial at crash site, 2024.

Groundhog Day is a tradition observed regionally in the United
States and Canada on February 2 of every year. It derives from
the Pennsylvania Dutch superstition that if a groundhog emerges
from its burrow on this day and sees its shadow, it will retreat to
its den and winter will go on for six more weeks; if it does not
see its shadow, spring will arrive early.

The observance of Groundhog Day in the United States first
occurred in German communities in Pennsylvania on
February 2, 1840.
.

While the tradition remains popular in the 21st century,
studies have found no consistent association between
a groundhog seeing its shadow and the subsequent
arrival time of spring-like weather.

(From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

https://donate.shrinerschildrens.org/give/748217/#!/donation/checkout

                   
CARLATA BRADLEY

The Misfits, a flawed but moving meditation on the vanishing
spirit of western independence, opened in theaters on
February 1, 1961.       

The Misfits had all the right ingredients to become a truly
great western. The director, John Huston, was one of the
most talented  in Hollywood. The screenwriter, Arthur
Miller, was a celebrated  playwright.      

       
The three stars—Marilyn Monroe, Clark Gable and
Montgomery Clift—were among America’s brightest,
yet when the film opened in early 1961, the reviews
were mixed, and the public largely ignored the film.         

Audiences disliked the film in part because it failed to
offer a clear-cut hero with whom they could identify.     

The Misfits was the last completed film for both Gable
(who died three months before the premiere) and
Monroe (who died a year after its release).