Samoa Skips a Day in Time

Quick, somebody call Christopher Lloyd.

It’s the future now in Samoa. The South Pacific island skipped Friday this week and moved right over to the west side of the international dateline, undoing the extra day they added in 1892. The shift is intended to facilitate trade with New Zealand and Australia, with whom they shared just four business days before the date change. The country is now 24 hours ahead of its closest neighbor, Togo, and three hours ahead of eastern Australia. American Samoa will remain on the other side of the international dateline. Some locals fear the shift could cause confusion for tourists, who can no longer visit the island to see the sun set in the last place on earth (though they can now see the first dawn.) It seems the tiny island nation will do anything to stay in step with New Zealand and Australia, having switched sides of the road for drivers just two years ago.