There is something I have wondered ever since the millenia celebration. When–using Eastern Standard Time (i.e., New York time)–does the new year first begin in the world? And specifically where does it begin? Are there any special festivities in the time zone it begins? Or is it like any other time zone?
Just wondering…
Kiribati - Christmas Islands.
Read how New Year “arrives” in different places here .
Also Caroline Island was setup for the Millenium for the first dawn.
Since NY is UT-5hrs the New year starts 17hrs earlier than in NY at the first time zone .
And the winning location would be Greenwich, England.
Remember New Year’s 2000? Remember the ceremony at remote “Millennium Island”, with the outrigger boats bringing in the sacred torch from the sea? And the old man passes the torch to the little boy, telling him to take it to the rest of the world?
Not really.
Why not? UTC is universal time. Why not Greenwich? Is there a better candidate?
Does the international date line have something to do with it? Greenwich is on the other side of the globe from it.
Mikahw is correct. The first place in the world to see Jan. 1, 2003, would be at the international date line, 180 degrees longitude, not at Greenwich, which is at 0 degrees.
Sorry, I misinterpreted the question.
Early Out, Kiribati has (arbitrarily) pushed the International Date Line way, way, to the east. They stretched it all the way over to Millennium Island (renamed for the occasion). The eastern border of Kiribati is about 147 degrees west longitude (approximately the longitude of Fairbanks, Alaska), so now the International Date Line has this huge jog in it sticking way out for thousands of miles away east from 180 degrees. That’s how Kiribati was able to claim they got the millennium first.
I’d forgotten about the big jog in the line. With a little effort, we should be able to push the international date line to oh, say, Kansas!