Do you ever feel like a day isn’t long enough to accomplish everything you plan to do? Well, when you cross the International Dateline traveling West towards Asia, you lose a day entirely!
Located at about 180 degrees in the Pacific Ocean, this imaginary line extends from the North to the South Pole directly opposite the prime meridian line of 0 degrees longitude in Greenwich, London. It marks the divide of the Western and Eastern Hemispheres and arbitrarily demarcates each calendar day from the next. It deviates around national borders since it is not defined by international law and allows individual nations to decide the date and time zone they wish to observe.
This “lost day” phenomenon was first predicted in the early 1300s by Geographer Prince Abulfeda. Explorer Magellan confirmed it when he circumnavigated the earth in 1522 and arrived at Cape Verde one day later than anticipated. In 1917 at the Anglo-French Conference, it was agreed that clocks should be adjusted by one hour for every 15 degrees longitude sailed. The International Dateline is the consequence of worldwide timekeeping systems that fix local noon time to when the sun crosses the local meridian or longitude.
National adjustments are common, especially when national boundaries change. Alaska was on the western side of the dateline until 1967 when the United States purchased the territory. October 19 was moved back to October 18 and the date became known as “Alaska Day.” Due to local differences and the observance of daylight savings time, there are three different calendar dates simultaneously every day between 10:00 and noon UTC.
The eccentricity of the International Dateline features in fiction. In “Around the World in Eighty Days” by Jules Verne, Phileas Fog though he had lost his wager, but actually returned to London a day earlier than he had calculated thus winning his bet.
The “Domain of the Golden Dragon” is the unofficial naval certificate issued to sailors who cross the International Dateline sailing from west to east. Today we celebrated crossing the International Dateline aboard the Seven Sea Mariner with Golden Dragon Punch, specialty cocktails, and cake. We celebrated the birthdays of those who will forever be a year younger. As we head west to the land of the east, cheers to us all as we cross the dateline!
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