What's the date?

Funny thing - time. Just when did 2010 start? The Australians were having their knees-up and watching their fireworks when it was only mid-day on the 31st here. Of course it's like that all the time, it's just that New Year calls our attention to it. At any given time, for half the earth it is one day, whereas for the other half it is the day before - or after. Even today we find this a little strange - back in the 16th century when Magellan and his crew returned to Europe having sailed round the world, they were astonished to find that those on shore insisted that it was Thursday, whereas their own meticulously kept log showed it to be Wednesday - they had of course crossed the "date line" (although back then the concept did not exist), and had "lost" a day, hence the discrepancy. Phileas Fogg in "Around the World in Eighty Days" was fooled the other way, by not realising that he had "gained" a day and therefore had not lost his bet, as he had thought.