msb
1/12/2013 11:15:00 AM
"Calvin":
>>> 6 In 1867 what did the USA purchase from Russia for about $7 million?
David B.:
>> Alaska.
>> I'm sure that that's the answer you're after but was it bought by the USA
>> then?
Mark Brader:
> Why did you *think* the year 1867 was only 354 days long there?
> (Bonus question: why 354 and not 353?)
The answer is, because at the same time that the US switched Alaska
onto the Gregorian calendar, they also switched it from "Asian date"
to "European date". In other words, it moved the international date
line from its eastern border to fall between Asia and North America.
If the time zones we now know had been in use then (which they weren't),
most of Alaska would have switched from zone +15 to its present -9.
--
Mark Brader, Toronto Rocket, 1829: The first 30 mph train.
msb@vex.net TGV-A, 1989: The first 300 mph train.
My text in this article is in the public domain.