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A Community Devoted to the Preservation and Practice of Celestial Navigation and Other Methods of Traditional Wayfinding
Re: HIstory of the Intl Date Line
From: John Huth
Date: 2011 Feb 10, 19:50 -0500
From: John Huth
Date: 2011 Feb 10, 19:50 -0500
I think it's worth saying here, though, that the IDL is really a cartographic fiction. We don't need it.
I'm not sure I'd call it a fiction - it's a political boundary and frequently shifts. One of the more amusing shifts is being the "first" to usher in the New Year. If I were approaching the island of Tonga and wanted to know how to set my watch, I'd like to know what time zone they've legislated themselves to be in. From that point of view I wouldn't call it a fiction.
