There Will Be No Friday This Week In Samoa

Friday has been canceled in Samoa. The South Pacific nation is switching to a different time zone, which will put them on the other side of the International Date Line.
People in Samoa (population 193,000) want to be closer time-wise to Australia, New Zealand, China and Tonga because they do so much more day-to-day business with those relatively nearby nations than with the rest of the world. And the problem until now, for example, has been that when it's 8 a.m. Monday in Samoa it's 8 a.m. Tuesday in Tonga. Business people in Samoa have kind of been losing a working day when it comes to dealing with their nearest neighbors.

Now the time, literally, has come. When 11:59:59 p.m. strikes Thursday in Samoa, the next tick will take folks there to Saturday.

And no one will be born or die on Dec. 30, 2011, in Samoa. Weird.

If this had happened in any part of the U.S., you can bet we'd skip Monday before messing with a Friday. http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2011/12/28/144385201/there-will-be-no-friday-this-week-in-samoa?ft=1&f=1001 -via reddit

(Image credit: Wikipedia user Plenz)

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And, hereafter, mystery writers, quiz shows, and anyone else trying to befuddle smartypants will be able to use the supposedly throw-away line "born December 30, 2011 in Samoa" as a telltale lie.
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