A riddle to occupy your lovely brains

[ambersalamander]

Right, people. Next time you're stuck in a seemingly immovable tea-bar queue, try figuring out the answer to this nice little riddle. We'll see who gets it first, but anyone waiting in Horley Town's tea bar queue is disqualified, because you'll have longer than anyone else to work it out.

Here it is:

Next year, Jack will celebrate his 17th birthday and his brother Neil will celebrate his 18th birthday. Nothing unusual there, until you learn that Jack is actually OLDER than Neil. Assuming we're talking about the same two people, how is this possible?

[ambersalamander]

Hasn't anyone got this yet? ;D

[votp]

Twins and time zones I suspect (no leap years or clocks going forward). Twin 1, let us call him Jack, is born on a boat near the International dateline at 12:05am on 1/1/1992 so is 17 on 1/1/2009. Said boat crosses dateline, losses a day and twin 2, Neil if you will, is born on 31/12/1991 so will be 18 on 31/12/2009.
Does the dateline work that way? Do we have to show the working? How do you know these people?

[ambersalamander]

You are correct, Sir.

An alternative might be another set of twins with the older twin celebrating his birthday two days after the younger. In this case, the first twin is born in the early hours of March 1; the second on 28 February after the International Date Line is crossed. And, of course, the year in question being a Leap Year, so an extra day appears between the birthdays.

I'm afraid I don't know them personally