in regards to the international date line, how was it decided that australia would be ahead of amercica?

Answer 1

It's actually defined in the other direction. The British had vast economic and seafaring power for many centuries, and they defined their country as being the primary time zone. Everyone else got assigned slots before or after that based on distance. The international date line is just the place that's 12 hours ahead of (and behind) Greenwich Mean Time in England. Like many things, we've just never changed it because there's really no reason to.

Answer 2

It's quite a coincidence. Back when they did this, in the 1880s, London was probably the most important city in Europe. Also, the British and French were imperialistic rivals, so there was competition between London and Paris. Both wanted the Prime Meridian, but London got it. The Royal Geographical Society had the meridian run right through the Greenwich Observatory.

Well, here's the coincidence. As it turns out, exactly half a world away from London -- 180 degrees East longitude and 180 degrees West longitude -- the International Date Line runs right down the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It has to jog a bit to take care of Siberia and Alaska, and it has to jog a bit more to take care of New Zealand and a few of its dependencies, but London is quite well placed to be half a world away from a natural dividing line. (Actually, though, Paris would've been a tad better. The jogs would've been smaller.)

So Australia is on one side of the line, and America is on the other. If you look at a globe, you can see that the Date Line is well placed, because it travels through ocean for its entire length.

By the way, another place they could have placed it is at 30 degrees West longitude. That line is also all ocean (except for a chunk of Greenland), and it runs through the North and South Atlantic from the North to the South Pole. If they had done that, America would be ahead of Australia, and Europe would be behind everyone else in the world.

But you know 19th century Europeans would never allow that to happen.

Answer 3

Since the sun rises in the East, all date lines in the east are defined as being before current place or time.
The sun rises here at 7 am but rose on the east coast first.
Therefore the east is in an earlier time zone.

Answer 4

Probably so that it lines up with Asia.