ONTONAGON, MICHIGAN

Ontonagon is a village in Michigan. The population was 1,494 at the 2010 census. Ontonagon is the westernmost incorporated community in the United States in the legally designated Eastern Time Zone as determined by the United States Department of Transportation. In the summer the sun sets over Lake Superior at 10 p.m. local time with dusk lasting until almost 11 p.m. By contrast in the winter the sun does not rise until just before 9 a.m. and it is still pitch black at 8 a.m. Ontonagon is within one degree of longitude to the east of the 90th meridian west, which is actually the meridian for the Central Time Zone. Therefore, Ontonagon is geographically situated in the Central Time Zone, not the Eastern Time Zone. As a result of this idiosyncrasy, Ontonagon actually has its solar noon occur either at or near 1 p.m. during the winter when standard time (EST) is being observed and 2 p.m. when daylight saving time (EDT) is being observed. The same is true for solar midnight, which occurs at or near 1 a.m. while on standard time and 2 a.m. while on daylight saving time.

THE SCHIZOPHRENIC TOWN OF WEST COLLEGE CORNER, INDIANA AKA AS COLLEGE CORNER, INDIANA

West College Corner is a town in Union County, Indiana. The town is bordered on the east by the Ohio state line. Across the state line is the village of College Corner, Ohio. College Corner Union Elementary School, part of the Union County-College Corner Joint School District, is bisected by the state line and is operated jointly with the Ohio authorities. TIME OF DAY IN COLLEGE CORNER, INDIANA: Most of Indiana, including Union County, is in the Eastern Time Zone (EST). Since 2006, Indiana has observed daylight savings times (DST) throughout the state. However, for many years prior to 2006, most of Indiana, including Union County, did not observe daylight savings time. This meant that when daylight savings time was in effect that the time in College Corner, Indiana (EST) was an hour behind the time in College Corner, Ohio (EDST). THE UNION COUNTY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL GYMNASIUM: The Indiana-Ohio state line runs down the middle of the 80-year-old school gymnasium. Before daylight savings time was adopted, this meant that it was possible to launch a long shot from the Indiana side of the basketball court and it wouldn’t come down on the other side of the court until an hour later. During a basketball game, a single player in a single game can score points in both Indiana and Ohio. U.S. POST OFFICE AND ZIP CODES: The post office located at 18 Liberty Ave., West College Corner, Indiana serves two zip codes; 47003 for West College Corner, Indiana, and 45003 for College Corner, Ohio. TELEPHONE CALLS: A person residing on the Ohio side of State Line Street has to dial the Indiana area code to reach someone on the Indiana side of the street.

COLLEGE CORNER UNION ELEMENTARY SCHOOL - INDIANA IS ON THE LEFT AND OHIO IS ON THE RIGHT

WORLD'S LARGEST SUNDIALS

Note: The determination of the “largest” sundial in the world is difficult because it depends on whether it is measured by height, width, or the gnomon (the vertical structure that creates the shadow indicating the time of day).

Three of the largest sundials in the world are as follows:

The Samrat Yantra (translation: Supreme Instrument) in Jaipur, India is one of the world’s largest sundials. (It is difficult to pin down the “largest sundial in the world” because “largest” can translate to height or width).

The Samrat Yantra is 90 feet tall, and is so large that its shadow moves at speed of 1 millimeter per second. If you stand and watch it, you’ll see it move about 2 and 1/3 inches every minute. 

Samrat Yantra Sundial in Jaipur, India

The Sundial Bridge (also known as the Sundial Bridge at Turtle Bay)  is a cantilever spar cable-styed bridge for bicycles and pedestrians that spans the Sacramento River in Redding, California, and forms a large sundial.

The support tower of the bridge forms a single 217-foot mast that points due north at a cantilevered angle, allowing it to serve as the gnomon of a sundial. The Sundial Bridge gnomon’s shadow is cast upon a large dial to the north of the bridge. The tip of the shadow moves at approximately one foot per minute to that the Earth’s rotation about its axis can be seen with the naked eye.

The Sundial Bridge in Redding, California

Taipei 101 is a supertall skyscraper located in Taipei, Taiwan. It held the record as the world’s tallest building from its opening in 2004 until the 2010 completion of the Burj Khalifa.  

A circular park to the east of Taipei 101 acts as the sundial face, telling the afternoon hours using the shadow cast by the building. 

Taipei 101 in Taipei, Taiwan

GREATEST CROSS BORDER TIME CHANGE

The greatest time change along a common border is at the border between Afghanistan and China. Afghanistan is one of the few countries to the half-hour versus Universal Time, specifically UT+4:30. China stretches 5,026 kilometers east-to-west, and yet it falls within a single time zone in its entirety: Universal Time +8. Afghanistan shares a brief 76 kilometer border with China at its far eastern tip. Anyone crossing between the two countries would experience an astounding three and a half hour time change.

SPEAKING CLOCK AKA TALKING CLOCK

A talking clock is a live or recorded human voice, usually accessed by telephone that gives the correct time. The first telephone speaking clock service was introduced in France, in association with the Paris Observatory, on February 14, 1933.

The format of the service is similar to that of radio time signal services. At set intervals (e.g. ten seconds) a voice announces (for example) “At the third stroke, the time will be twelve forty-six and ten seconds…”, with three beeps following. Some countries have sponsored time announcements and include the sponsor’s name in the message.

The first automated time service in the United States began in Atlanta, Georgia in 1934 as a promotion for Tick Tock Ginger Ale.

The service became typically known as the “Time of Day” service, with the term “speaking clock” never being used. Occasionally it would be called “Time and Temperature” simply “Time”.

For all area codes in Northern California and on the West Coast generally, the reserved exchange, the reserved exchange was 767 which was often indicated by its phoneword POPCORN (767-2676); the service was discontinued in 2007.

CURRENTLY ACTIVE TELEPHONE TALKING CLOCK SERVICE
PHONE NUMBER	LOCATION	DESCRIPTION
502-585-5961	Louisville, KY	Once owned by Citizen’s Fidelity Bank. In operation as of November, 2018
xxx-xx-0123	Wisconsin	The former Wisconsin Bell reserved the ending -0123 in the dominant exchange for a city time and temperature information.
920-734-0123*	Appleton, WI	Originally provided by AT&T, the incumbent LEC**, the service was terminated after decades in existence and the number was taken over by a privately operated talking clock offering the time, temperature and  brief sponsored advertisements.
203-777-4647 (203-SPRINGS)	New Haven, CT	Working as of July, 2018
219-933-9000	Northwest, IN	Working as of today
406-442-1730	Helena, MT	Working as of July 2018
408-767-2676 (408-POPCORN)	San Jose, CA	Time/Temperature Service now provided by a CLEC*. Working as of July 2018
415-767-2676	San Francisco, CA	Time/Temperature Service now provided by a CLEC**
541-917-6885	Albany, OR	Working as of July 2018
817-844-6611	Fort Worth, TX	Working as of August 2018. Provided by Haltrom’s Jewelers (previously owned by Chase Bank).
972-844-6611	Dallas, TX	Working as of November 2018. Also works with 214 area code.
919-362-1226	Apex, NC	Working as of July 2018
919-468-8463 (468-TIME)	Cary, NC	Working as of July 2018
740—774-2151	Kannapolis, NC	Working as of July 2018
513-721-1700	Cincinnati, OH	Working as of July 2018
740-774-2151	Chillicothe, OH	Working as of July 2018
251-660-0044	Mobile, AL	Working as of July 2018
770-455-7141	Atlanta, GA	Working as of November 2018
330-823-8211	Alliance, OH	Working as of November 2018
302-475-8463	Wilmington, DE	Working as of December 2018

*I called this number today, and a very pleasant female voice greeted me with; “Good morning, today is December 19, the time is 11:14 and the temperature is 35 degrees”.

**A competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) is a telecommunications provider company (sometimes called a “carrier”) competing with other already established carriers (generally the incumbent local exchange carrier (LEC).

UTC+14 PACIFIC REPUBLIC OF KRIBATI

The Pacific Republic of Kribati, the only nation in which part of its country is in UTC+14, is the first country on earth to see a new day and new year.

Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary standard by which the world regulates clocks and time. It is within about 1 second of mean solar time at 0 degrees longitude and is not adjusted for daylight saving time.

Time zones around the world are expressed using positive or negative offsets from UTC.

The westernmost time zone uses UTC-12, being twelve hours behind UTC; the easternmost time zone, UTC+14, being fourteen hours ahead of UTC.

In 1995, the island nation of Kribati moved those of it atolls in the Line Islands from UTC-10 to UTC+14 so that Kribati would all be on the same day.

UTC+14 is the earliest time zone on Earth, meaning that areas in this zone are the first to see a new day, and therefore the first to celebrate the new year.

U.S. COUNTIES IN MORE THAN ONE TIME ZONE

COUNTY	TIME ZONE	TIME ZONE	COMMENTS
Cherry County, Nebraska	Central Time	Mountain Time	Eastern third, including county seat of Valentine is in the Central Time Zone. Western two-thirds are in the Mountain Time Zone.
Elko County, Nevada	Pacific Time	Mountain Time	West Wendover is in the Mountain Time Zone. Other cities “unofficially” observe Mountain Time due to proximity and economic ties to neighboring Idaho.
Gulf County, Florida	Eastern	Central	Split by the Intracoastal Waterway.
Idaho County, Idaho	Pacific	Mountain	Time zones are divided by the Salmon River. Most of the county is in the Pacific Time Zone, but those areas south of the Salmon River are in the Mountain Time Zone
Malheur County, Oregon	Mountain	Pacific	Most of the county is in the Mountain Time Zone, but a small portion in the south is in the Pacific Time Zone.

TIME ZONES

If person A is in Pensacola, FL and wants to call person B who is Ontario (Malheur County), Oregon, there is only a one hour time difference, despite the fact that Florida borders the Atlantic Ocean and Oregon borders the Pacific Ocean.

THE STRANGE STORY OF THE SS WARIMOO

On December 30, 1899, the SS Warimoo, a passenger steamer was in the waters of the mid-Pacific on its way from Vancouver to Australia. Just before midnight, the navigator informed Captain John Phillips that their position was latitude 0 degrees x 31 minutes north and longitude 179 degrees x 30 minutes west.

Captain Phillips had the navigator check and double check their position and then changed course slightly to bear on his new mark. At midnight the SS Warimoo lay at the Equator at exactly the point where it crossed the International Date Line. 

The consequences of this bizarre position were many. The forward part of the ship was in the Southern Hemisphere and the middle of summer. The stern was in the Northern Hemisphere and in the middle of winter. The date in the aft part of the ship was December 31, 1899. Forward it was January 1, 1900. 

The ship was therefore not only in two different days, two different months, two different seasons and two different years, but also in two different centuries, all at the same time!

SS Warimoo