"Sirens wailed and fireworks exploded in the skies over Samoa as the tiny South Pacific nation jumped forward in time" today, The Associated Press writes.
As we reported on Wednesday, Samoa (and the nearby even tinier Tokelau) decided to shift from the east side of the International Dateline to the west to be closer in time to Australia, New Zealand, Tonga and other neighbors. And by doing that, it jumped right from midnight Thursday to 12:01 a.m. Saturday. So, no Friday.
It all happened a little more than three hours ago (5 a.m. ET). And according to the AP:
"The moment was greeted with celebrations across Samoa. Fireworks danced across the sky and police, ambulance and fire truck sirens wailed throughout Apia to signal the change. Drivers circled the clock tower blaring their horns, and prayer services were held across the country."
Sky News filed a video report.
Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
