Kiribati Skips a Day

If you were born in Kiribati (an island nation in the central Pacific Ocean) on this day in 1994 then you are firstly a liar and secondly you might not actually exist. As you see, this day was skipped entirely on the island in 1994, due to a change in time zones from UTC−11:00 to UTC+13:00 and UTC−10:00 to UTC+14:00, respectively. Previously called the Gilbert Islands, Kiribati was divided by the International Date Line, with the western section of the state being 24 hours ahead of its eastern neighbour, meaning that there were only four days in the week that official business could be conducted.

To remedy this, the date line was shunted east so all bits of the island were in the same day. But to achieve this, the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands had to skip the last day in December all together. Which is perfect if you’re one of those people who hate New Year’s Eve.