On December 31, 1899, one of the most amazing navigational freaks in ocean history occurred. On a calm night, the steamer SS Warrimoo from Vancouver was cutting through the mid-Pacific on its way to Australia, and the navigator had just finished working out the ship's position and brought Captain John Phillips the results. They were at LAT 0º 31' N and LONG 179 30' W, and at once, Phillips knew the significance of their location. They were only a few miles from the intersection of the Equator and the International Date Line, and he intended to take full advantage of the amazing opportunity at hand.

He called his navigators to the bridge to double-check the ship's position and only changed the course slightly before he adjusted the engine speed. At midnight the SS Warrimoo lay on the Equator at exactly the point where it crossed the International Date Line. The result of this bizarre position were many. The bow of the ship was in the Southern Hemisphere and in the middle of summer. The stern was in the Northern Hemisphere and in the middle of winter. The date in the aft part of the ship was December 31, 1899, but in the front, it was January 1, 1900.

Therefore the ship was in two different days, two different months, two different years, two different seasons, and in two different centuries at the same time!