ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

180th meridian

Hey kiddo, do you know what a meridian is? A meridian is an imaginary line that circles around the Earth from the North Pole to the South Pole. It's like a big circle that goes all the way around our planet.

Now, the 180th meridian is a very special meridian. It's the line that marks the halfway point between the East and West side of the world. Imagine a big pizza cut in half horizontally. The 180th meridian is like the line where you cut the pizza in half.

But wait, there's more! When you cross the 180th meridian, something crazy happens. You switch from one day to the next! For example, if it's Monday on the East side of the 180th meridian and you sail west across it, you'll suddenly find yourself in Tuesday!

That's because the planet Earth is divided into 24 time zones, and each time zone is about 15 degrees of longitude wide. The 180th meridian is in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, so it's where the International Date Line is located. The International Date Line is a line that divides the Earth into two different calendar days.

So, to put it simply, the 180th meridian is a special line on Earth that marks the halfway point between East and West, and is where you can cross from one day to the next!