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I found it amusing to learn about the Australian time zones: Australia is basically divided into three parts, which could be very nicely +8, +9 and +10, except

I found it amusing to learn about the Australian time zones: Australia is basically divided into three parts, which could be very nicely +8, +9 and +10, except it is +8, +9:30 and +10. OK. Except that in the south, two of the three zones are split and do DST, which the north does not do, so you get +8, +10:30 and +11 in summer in the south (but the north keeps +8, +9:30 and +10). Now, that was my amusement for a couple of years. Then I learned that there is Broken Hill, which follows a time zone different from the surrounding area because of the train track history. And there is Lord Howe Islands, which uses a +0:30 minute DST shift instead of an hour. And then I learned that history also experimented with 20 minute and 15 minute DST shifts, and that double DST (or Hochsommerzeit in Germany) was quite common, too. You can probably go on and on and on as you dig deeper, and at some point, anyone's mind will blow, I guess.

gumby 10y ago
Why is it amusing? Australian states can be quite large and this allows all of South Australia to share a common time, even though they span two (arbitrary) "time zones". India does the same. Russia tried to do what China does (one TZ) but it is pretty hard -- people like to be awake when the sun is up.
- beeforpork 10y ago
  Sorry for the confusion; I don't find it amusing at all for the size, but for the irregularities.
- Turing_Machine 10y ago
  Alaska used to have four time zones. The panhandle in Southeast was on Pacific (UTC-8), some portions of eastern Alaska were on Yukon (UTC-9), central Alaska was on Alaska-Hawaii (UTC-10), and western Alaska and the Aleutians were on Bering (UTC-11). Now it's down to 2. Most of Alaska has been placed in the Alaska zone (UTC-9...the former Yukon zone, renamed because Yukon itself (in Canada) moved to Pacific at some point) and the extreme western Aleutians are on Hawaii-Aleutian time (UTC-10). This posed some hardship, since most of the state is at least one hour earlier than its "natural" time (in some cases, two or more) but has the advantage of reducing the time offset between Alaska and the Lower 48. A mitigating factor is that due to the high latitude the sun's position and clock time have only a loose relationship anyway for much of the year.
- hx87 10y ago
  "I want to wake up when the sun is up" doesn't conflict with single time zones, as any resident of western Xinjiang can attest, but since it requires that people get up at numerically earlier or later times, it does conflict with "I want to wake up at 5-9am."
  - vacri 10y ago
    It does conflict, if you have to do business with people in the other end of the timezone.
- kgwgk 10y ago
  > Russia tried to do what China does (one TZ) but it is pretty hard -- people like to be awake when the sun is up. People can easily be awake when the sun is up by changing their schedule. I've never been to China, but I guess in Ürümqi (today's sunrise: 6:35, sunset: 21:54) and Beijing (4:53-19:46) they adapt their schedule to the daylight hours. A nice tool to check daylight hours through the year: http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/china/beijing http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/china/beijing
talaketu 10y ago
DST becomes less fun in the tropics. Longreach is about the same longitude as Melbourne - but compare the daylight hours: http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/australia/melbourne http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/australia/melbourne http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/australia/longreach http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/australia/longreach
vacri 10y ago
You forgot the Australian timezone of Eucla, which is on +08:45. Yes, they have a 45-min offset, for a small town that just has to be different...
wglb 10y ago
Another real complexity was parts of Indiana, part of which is in Central, the rest in Eastern. At some point in the past, daylight savings time was chosen by county, and not well recorded. Thus, it is apparently difficult to precisely date local events. It may have also been that the dates of shifting to DST varied as well.

gumby 10y ago

Why is it amusing? Australian states can be quite large and this allows all of South Australia to share a common time, even though they span two (arbitrary) "time zones". India does the same. Russia tried to do what China does (one TZ) but it is pretty hard -- people like to be awake when the sun is up.

beeforpork 10y ago
Sorry for the confusion; I don't find it amusing at all for the size, but for the irregularities.
Turing_Machine 10y ago
Alaska used to have four time zones. The panhandle in Southeast was on Pacific (UTC-8), some portions of eastern Alaska were on Yukon (UTC-9), central Alaska was on Alaska-Hawaii (UTC-10), and western Alaska and the Aleutians were on Bering (UTC-11). Now it's down to 2. Most of Alaska has been placed in the Alaska zone (UTC-9...the former Yukon zone, renamed because Yukon itself (in Canada) moved to Pacific at some point) and the extreme western Aleutians are on Hawaii-Aleutian time (UTC-10). This posed some hardship, since most of the state is at least one hour earlier than its "natural" time (in some cases, two or more) but has the advantage of reducing the time offset between Alaska and the Lower 48. A mitigating factor is that due to the high latitude the sun's position and clock time have only a loose relationship anyway for much of the year.
hx87 10y ago
"I want to wake up when the sun is up" doesn't conflict with single time zones, as any resident of western Xinjiang can attest, but since it requires that people get up at numerically earlier or later times, it does conflict with "I want to wake up at 5-9am."
- vacri 10y ago
  It does conflict, if you have to do business with people in the other end of the timezone.
kgwgk 10y ago
> Russia tried to do what China does (one TZ) but it is pretty hard -- people like to be awake when the sun is up. People can easily be awake when the sun is up by changing their schedule. I've never been to China, but I guess in Ürümqi (today's sunrise: 6:35, sunset: 21:54) and Beijing (4:53-19:46) they adapt their schedule to the daylight hours. A nice tool to check daylight hours through the year: http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/china/beijing http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/china/beijing

talaketu 10y ago

DST becomes less fun in the tropics. Longreach is about the same longitude as Melbourne - but compare the daylight hours: http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/australia/melbourne http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/australia/melbourne http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/australia/longreach http://www.timeanddate.com/sun/australia/longreach

vacri 10y ago

You forgot the Australian timezone of Eucla, which is on +08:45. Yes, they have a 45-min offset, for a small town that just has to be different...

wglb 10y ago

Another real complexity was parts of Indiana, part of which is in Central, the rest in Eastern. At some point in the past, daylight savings time was chosen by county, and not well recorded. Thus, it is apparently difficult to precisely date local events. It may have also been that the dates of shifting to DST varied as well.