Much was made of the handover by the British of Hong Kong to the Chinese, saying that this meant the end of the British Empire, that the sun had now finally set on it.
I didn't realize how important this was until it suddenly occurred to me that with the invasion and occupation of Iraq, that the US empire was now truly globe-straddling and that the sun, now, did not set on the US empire. Calculations proving this - and showing how Iraq is a keystone to this, below.
All calculations below are from
Sunrise Sunset which allows you to calculate the exact time of sunrise and sunset for any point in the world. For simplicity, I have run everything on GMT, and checked for December 21, as that's the shortest day of the year.
On Dec 21, the sun rises in the Eastern edge of Maine at 12:09 PM GMT, and sets at the Western edge of Hawai'i at 3:59 AM. This leaves over 8 hours unaccounted for, but fortunately, the US has protectorates further West: Guam. And on the 21st, the sun sets at 8:00 AM that day, leaving only 4 hours missing.
And that's where Iraq comes in: The sun rises in Baghdad at 4:02 and sets at 13:59, comfortably closing the gap between Guam and Maine.
And there you have it: A globe-spanning empire on which the sun truly never sets.
The exact numbers, all times GMT:
Eastport, Maine, Dec 21: Sunrise: 12:09 Sunset: 21:25 .
Mana, Hawaii, Dec 21: Sunrise: 17:12 Sunset: 3:59
Agana, Guam: Dec 21: Sunrise: 20:39 Sunset: 8:00
Baghdad, Iraq, Dec. 21: Sunrise: 4:02 Sunset: 13:59
