A brief stretch of icy water separates the two islands, but because they are in different time zones, they are almost a full day apart.
If you’ve ever wanted to really go back in time, you should go to the remote islands of Big and Little Diomede. You might be wondering how this is even possible, but all you have to do to do this is going to the north of the islands.
Bring a warm coat, though, because they are at the top of the world in the Bering Strait, which is a body of water that separates the Russian region of Siberia from the American state of Alaska.
Even though the distance between Big Diomede, on the Russian side, and Little Diomede, on the American side, is less than three miles, the International Date Line separates the two uninhabited islands in the middle. This means that there is a time zone difference of 21 hours (or 20 hours at certain times of the year) between the two islands.
The International Date Line is a made-up line that goes through the middle of the Pacific Ocean in a wavering path. The end of one day and the start of the next depending on where it is in the ocean.
Even though there is only a small amount of water between the two islands, Big Diomede is almost a full day ahead of Little Diomede.
Since the ocean freezes over in the winter in the Northern Hemisphere, it seems possible that you could walk between the two continents at that time.
At other times of the year, it is possible to swim or row from one day to the next, either forwards or backward, depending on which way you go.
Do you think you will have jet lag when you get back from a long trip? That’s a pretty crazy idea you’ve come up with.
Fairly speaking, trying to cross the gap would be a waste of time since it is illegal to travel between the two islands. This is because if you did that, you would be entering Russia’s sovereign territory, which is against the law in the United States of America.
It is common knowledge that you would never want to cross this border, especially since you would need permission to do so.
Also, even if you went all the way from the United States to Russia, there are no people living on Big Diomede, so you would have no reason to be there.
Some people live in Little Diomede full-time, and the most recent information shows that there are about 110 people living there right now.
The islands are named after Saint Diomede of Greece, who is thought to have lived between the third and fourth centuries A.D.
Vitus Bering, a Danish-Russian explorer, also found the Bering Strait in 1728. On August 16, of that same year, he gave the islands their current name. The strait is named after Bering, who also discovered it.
If you didn’t already know, it’s the day on the Russian Orthodox Christian church’s calendar when they celebrate Saint Diomede.
Most people will never be able to get from one island to the other, but in August 1987, an American swimmer named Lynne Cox was able to swim across the cold waters that separate the two islands.
Even though the distance was only 2.7 miles, it must have taken a lot of courage and persistence to do that.
It might be better to just know about this strange thing than to put yourself through the trouble of getting into cold water and seeing what happens.
