Veluwemeer Aqueduct, Netherlands

© Frolova_Elena/Getty Image

We're halfway there. It's Halfway Day!

Today is Halfway Day, which marks the exact halfway point of a regular 365-day year. Halfway Day begins at noon on July 2 during a regular year, and at midnight on July 2 during a leap year. Since 2023 is not a leap year, we’ll be halfway through the year right around the time you go for lunch.

Pictured here is the Veluwemeer Aqueduct in the Netherlands. The aqueduct, completed in 2002, was designed with a different engineering approach: Rather than having traffic cross over Lake Veluwemeer, it uses a tunnel that allows cars to pass underneath, leaving the water free for boats to pass. The tunnel, which has pedestrian crossings on both sides, connects the mainland to Flevoland, the world's largest artificial island. Engineers could have built something that only met travellers’ needs halfway, but instead they found a solution that worked for everyone.