NavList:

About ten years ago, the Republic of Kiribati, a collection of islands near the equator in the Pacific, redefined its time zone status so that all of its islands would be on the same date. Since this archipelago straddles the traditional international date line, this change puts a big eastward "kink" in the date line. Where should one draw the lines? Does it make any difference? Should the date line be the simplest, shortest line that separates islands and land masses with differing date standards? If I'm a cartographer, can I draw the line anywhere I want (with due respect for tradition so I don't annoy potential customers)? Is there any practical circumstance where the arbitrariness of the date line might eventually cause problems??

 

Has anyone flown across the Pacific recently on a commercial flight? Pilots enjoy announcing milestones. Do they explain the date change en route (e.g. "we've just crossed the International Date Line so you've just lost a day... ha ha")? Or do they announce it when they land?