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I Found the Dumbest Time Zone

2025-05-02 · list · Hank · 6:11 · watch on YouTube

Topic: History & curiosities · mode: Curiosity & trivia

Hank argues that the time of day is both physical and made up, and ranks the world's dumbest time zones, from Arizona's refusal of daylight saving time, China's single zone, India's half-hour offset and Spain's Franco-era shift, to Nepal's 45-minute offset, the poles, and the uninhabited UTC-12 islands that give Earth more than 24 hours in a day.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — The uninhabited islands that make 26 hours in a day; time of day as physical and cultural reality

  • ★★ Hank says an uninhabited island and its neighbour, US government property managed by the Fish and Wildlife Service, are the reason there are 26 hours in a day. — 00:00:00 · United States
  • ★★★ Hank argues the time of day is both a physical reality (where the sun is) and a constructed cultural reality (what our phones say). — 00:00:00 · social construction
  • ★★ Hank says solar noon and clock noon rarely coincide, and an hour either way is fine, but it cannot be noon everywhere at once, hence time zones. — 00:00:30

00:00:59 — Arizona without daylight saving time; China's single Beijing time zone

  • ★★ Hank says daylight saving time is dumb and the US should stop doing it. — 00:00:59 · United States
  • ★★ Hank applauds Arizona for dropping daylight saving time but says it is dumb that nobody knows Arizona's time; he has to look it up for his friends there. (playful) — 00:01:37
  • ★★ Hank says China has only one time zone and no daylight saving time. — 00:01:37 · China
  • ★★ Hank says China chose Beijing time rather than a central point, so far western China runs on distant time, and crossing into Afghanistan shifts clocks by three and a half hours. — 00:02:06 · China

00:02:35 — Half-hour and 45-minute offsets: India, Spain under Franco, Nepal

  • ★★ Hank says India, the most populous nation, is on UTC plus 5 hours 30 minutes. — 00:02:35
  • ★★ Hank blames England: the Royal Society proposed two whole-hour zones for India, but the colonial government found that too complicated and went halfway between them. (playful) — 00:02:35 · England
  • ★★ Hank says Spain belongs in England's time zone but uses Germany's, because Franco put it there to curry favour with Hitler, so Spaniards eat lunch and dinner late. (playful) — 00:03:04 · England
  • ★★ Hank says Nepal and part of New Zealand have 45-minute offsets; Nepal first used Kathmandu's local solar time, UTC+5:41, then compromised on UTC+5:45. — 00:03:34
  • ★★ Hank first thought Nepal's offset was dumb but finds it cool: a remote country using its own capital's time to reinforce its independence. — 00:03:34

00:04:03 — The poles and Antarctica, where bases pick their own time

  • ★★ Hank says time zones stop mattering at the poles, so individual Antarctic bases pick the time most useful to them, usually that of whoever supplies them. — 00:04:03
  • ★ Hank reads and praises a Wikipedia sentence saying UTC is assumed south of 80 degrees latitude despite the limited presence of clocks. (playful) — 00:04:03 · Wikipedia

00:04:32 — UTC-12 on uninhabited islands, Baker Island to the Phoenix Islands, Kiribati's UTC+14

  • ★★★ Hank says the uninhabited islands are the only place on Earth on UTC minus 12; some countries used it once but stopped. — 00:04:32
  • ★★★ Hank says this makes more than 24 hours in a day: travelling from Baker Island to the Phoenix Islands moves your clock 25 hours. — 00:05:01
  • ★★ Hank says UTC+13 and UTC+14 were made up, UTC+14 in 1992, because Kiribati spanned the international date line and was tired of half the country being in a different day. — 00:05:31
    • a number in question (doubtful): "1992" — check against the recording
  • ★★ Hank says he is still unclear why Kiribati chose UTC+13 and +14 rather than UTC+12. (unsure) — 00:05:31
  • ★★ Hank asks viewers to explain in the comments why Kiribati picked UTC+13 and +14, saying whoever explains it well will 100% get pinned. — 00:05:31

00:06:00 — Comment request and sign-off: humans are weird and stupid, and Hank loves us

  • ★★ Hank closes that humans are extremely weird and stupid, and that he loves us. (playful) — 00:06:00

In the description and comments

  • ★ The description says Hank found a few other real oddities that he will probably put in Hankschannel videos. (hedged) — video description · hankschannel
  • ★ The description says Hank wanted a normal 4-minute Vlogbrothers video but feels he has lost that skill: it is hard to tell a story that fast and cut good material. — video description · Four-minute rule, Vlogbrothers

Humor (significant)

  • Hank says Arizona's dropping of daylight saving time reminds him that an important part of courage... — 00:01:37

    “is stupidity. I applaud the bravery of Arizona”

  • Hank explains India's half-hour offset. — 00:02:35

    “As you might imagine, this is 100% England's fault.”

  • Hank asks who to blame for Spain's late meals and wrong time zone. — 00:03:04

    “And can you guess what you can blame for this? That's right, fascism.”

  • Hank reads a Wikipedia sentence on time south of 80 degrees latitude. — 00:04:32

    “is assumed despite the limited presence of clocks. Very good. Love that.”

  • The only place on Earth on UTC minus 12 is a pair of uninhabited islands. — 00:04:32

    “which is extremely silly because no one lives there.”

  • Hank sums up humanity's time zones for John. — 00:06:00

    “John, humans are extremely weird and stupid. And I love us.”

Threads in this video

Mentioned

Central: Baker Island · time zone

Also: People: Adolf Hitler · Francisco Franco

Organizations: Royal Society · United States Fish and Wildlife Service · Wikipedia

Concepts: colonialism · Coordinated Universal Time · courage · daylight saving time · fascism · International Date Line · social construction

Places: Afghanistan · Antarctica · Arizona · Beijing · China · England · Germany · India · Kathmandu · Kiribati · Nepal · New Zealand · North Pole · Phoenix Islands · Spain · United States

Only in the description or credits: Four-minute rule · hankschannel

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