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Show Day Is Lost or Gained at International Date Line The International Date Line is a convenient name for the 180th I meridian where, by international I agreement, Monday (say) changes to Tuesday if one is going west and changes backwards to Sunday, Sun-day, if one is going east. Obviously these changes cancel themselves out, in the long run, though to live on the 180th meridian merid-ian can lead to all sorts of amusing amus-ing complications. Why is all this unavoidable? Well, we count our days by sunrises sun-rises in practice. If one travels swiftly west one's day lengthens, because the sun seems slower in setting in the west. The opposite happens when we speed to the east. There must be some spot (any spot would do, but all nations have to agree where it shall be) where travelers must adopt another anoth-er day or shed one. They can get back what they have lost, or lose what they have gained, simply by turning and going go-ing back home. |