During a conversation about where Waterboro, Maine is located…I was looking at a map of the world on my phone when I had to ask…and I asked out loud…‘Why does the International Date Line have a weird flexed arm shape in the middle?’

Besides the big giggle that the rest of the room broke out at this random question…it was a serious question that had absolutely nothing to do with the subject at hand…but really…why?????

It appears to be it was to surround a group of islands so they would be in the same time zone.

BUT what really intrigued me was there appears to be a point where the date line and the equator intersect.  IF you did it just right you could be in two days and two hemispheres at the same times.

Date Line Screen Shot
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Back to my original question...Waterboro is located by Biddeford, by the way.

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