Drive me crazy to see a zig zag line on the side of the globe opposite Greenwich.
“Most amusing”, replied Einstein.
Think of the time traveling you can do between the two islands!
A day late and a dollar short...
A picture is worth a thousand words.
Time travel is possible.
In many cases the International Date Line originally was set by whether the Western explorers came east from Europe or west from Europe.
In the case of the Philippines the Spanish came from the east, and the Philippines traded with the western, Spanish coast of the Americas. When the Spanish lost control of Central and Southern America the Spanish “transferred” it over the International Date Line at year end, 1844-45.
In the case of Russian America the Europeans came from the west, and Russia’s day began on the Russian American/British American border. Of course the Russians also used the Julian calendar. The Russians sold out to the Americans, and October 6, 1867 was followed by October 17, 1867 to move Alaska forward 11 days, 12 days forward to the Gregorian calendar and 1 day back to move the International Date Line west of Alaska.
They get to travel into the future without swallowing the impossible concept of a DeLorean reaching 88 miles per hour.