First Arrival of the New Year?

General Questions
#1

The time is actually opportune to ask this question. It is now 12 Midnight (well a couple of minutes after, according to my computer clock), December 31st 2015. And I suspect the New Year may have arrived somewhere in the world. I think(?).

The International Date Line is between Alaska and Siberia, in case you don’t know. And by international agreement, the new day (and in this case, New Year) begins there.

So does that mean the New Year has already arrived somewhere on earth? Or do we still have to wait an hour, or even two?

(BTW, my question isn’t as dumb as some may think. I’ll bet some of you didn’t even know about the International Date Line;). Education in the U.S. is in a horrible state of disrepair. I digress. But it is true.)

:):):slight_smile:

#2

True! - some people don’t even know about Wikipedia!

(And as of this posting, they’re about 5 hours away from local midnight…)

#3

Ahh jimb with your self professed expertise in all things date line related I would have thought you’d realise every location in the world is still a fair way off seeing in 2016

#4

I thought Chatham Island had the latest time in the world (45 minutes before NZ). Physically, it is actually east of the date line but uses NZ + 45 minutes or UT+12:45. In fact, if they use summer time, it could be UT+13:45.

In fact, I just checked and Chatham Island is UT+13:45. They celebrated New Year’s nearly 6 hours ago as I post this (11:11 EST).

#5

In Sydney - there are already staggering off to bed. It’s gone 4am on 1st Jan.

#6

So, are induced deliveries counted? It seems a trivial matter to induce a near-term pregnancy in order to assure your infant will arrive at 12:01.

#7

Pollywogs know about the international date line as our diesel submarine the (back in the 1960’s) often had to cross over and then surface to perform the ritual of kissing the chiefs belly covered in grease. :eek:

Just for first timers of course :cool:

#8

A neat interactive map showing the proceeding New Year.

New Year Map.

#9

Pollywogs and dateline? I became a shellback crossing the equator. Entered the Golden Dragon society crossing the date line.

At the equator full day of celebration. Started the night before at meal time and carried on until afternoon the next day.