The Midnight Sun Game is an amateur baseball game played every summer solstice at Growden Memorial Park in Fairbanks , Alaska , United States . Because the sun is out for almost 24 hours a day, the game starts at about 10:30 at night and completes around 1:30 the next morning . However, because Fairbanks's summer time zone differs by about an hour from local solar time, coupled with the state's observance of daylight saving time , the game may not actually last until solar midnight , at about 1:53. Famous players who have appeared in the game include Tom Seaver , Dave Winfield , Terry Francona , Harold Reynolds , Jason Giambi , and Bill "Spaceman" Lee .
31-482: After Noel Wien 's arrival in 1924, he noted, "The baseball team played on weekends, and on June 21 and July 4 they always started a game at midnight sharp, just to indicate that this was the farthest city in the country." The first game was in 1906. Artificial light has never been used. The sun does dip below the horizon for about an hour. Since 1960, the game has been hosted by the Alaska Goldpanners ,
62-606: A Bellanca CH-300 Pacemaker . Wien and Vic Ross achieved the "biggest scoop of the year" in 1935, according to Ira Harkey , when they delivered Alfred Lomen and his film of the Post-Rogers crash to Seattle for International News Service , ahead of a competing flight chartered by the Associated Press . Wien pioneered an inland route from Fairbanks to Whitehorse, Yukon , to Prince George, British Columbia , to Seattle, when all other flyers used floatplanes to fly
93-592: A Fokker F. III from Atlantic Aircraft in New Jersey and had it shipped to Rodebaugh's newly formed Fairbanks Airplane Company. Though the pilot still sat in an open cockpit, 5 passengers rode in an enclosed compartment within the fuselage. Wien also brought his brother Ralph to Alaska as a replacement for the mechanic Bill Yunker. Noel and Ralph made the first commercial flight from Fairbanks to Nome in June 1925. Noel flew until Nov. 1925 when he and Ralph quit
124-529: A Hamilton Metalplane . At the end of 1928, Noel had accumulated 1290 hours of flying time in Alaska for a total of 1940 hours. Noel was one of eight pilots in Alaska, while Ralph was one of twelve mechanics. They operated three of the seventeen aircraft in the Territory. In March 1929, Noel and Ralph bought and refurbished a Stearman from Arctic Prospecting and Development Company, which had crashed and
155-658: A collegiate summer baseball team based in Fairbanks. As the Goldpanners have been without a league since leaving the Alaska Baseball League in 2015, the opponent has typically been picked from other collegiate summer teams from anywhere in the United States. In 2020 the Goldpanners pulled out of the contest due to the coronavirus pandemic and local amateur squads played the game instead, with
186-548: A Midnight Sun Tournament, with a doubleheader consisting of the final of the American Legion Baseball tournament leading into the Goldpanners' Midnight Sun Game. Through 1959, the Midnight Sun Game featured various teams from the Fairbanks area. In 1960, the game became exclusively hosted by the Alaska Goldpanners . Although the Midnight Sun Game has been played since 1906, only games hosted by
217-537: A coastal route starting with the Lynn Canal to Juneau, and then onwards to Seattle. Wien and Ross departed Fairbanks at 10:45 PM on 17 Aug., and landed in Seattle at 12:30 PM the next day. Wien and Ross used the money earned from that flight to purchase a Ford Trimotor 5-AT. They then made the first Seattle to Fairbanks passenger flight on 28-31 Aug. In 1935, Wien contracted polio , but survived with only
248-656: A few more flying jobs, on 2 Sept. 1922, Wien had enough money to put a downpayment on a Thomas-Morse S-4 , which he owned for two weeks, unable to make the final payment. Wien then started working for Clarence W. Hinck's Federated Flyers Flying Circus, earning $ 300 a month, before Hinck's sold out his operation in Jan. 1924. Wien was then hired by Jimmy Rodebaugh, in May 1924, to fly 2 Standards for his Alaska Aerial Transportation Company. When Wien first arrived in Alaska he had 538.5 hours of flying time. Wien's first Anchorage flight, from
279-556: A limp in his right leg, and continued to fly. Then, in 1938, he received a piece of metal in his right eye, and a botched operation meant the loss of sight in that eye and the consequent depth perception , yet he continued to fly. The eye was removed in 1946, and replaced with a glass eye . Though still flying, he stopped logging hours after 11,600. His last forced landing was in 1956. He died on July 19, 1977, in Bellevue, Washington . Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle
310-415: A local American Legion Baseball squad facing the local town team baseball squad. The game has never been rained out ; the game narrowly avoided a rainout in 2020 after heavy downpours flooded the field earlier in the day, but the two competing teams were unwilling not to let the game go forward and cleared the field to the best of their ability to allow the game to go on. For 2021, the game expanded into
341-515: A new company called Alaskan Airways, Inc. Noel remained as a pilot for the new company and Ralph was retained as a mechanic and back-up pilot. However, Noel and Ada headed south where they purchased a Stinson Junior , and their son Noel Merrill Wien was born on 4 April 1930 in Minnesota. In Sept., the Noel family made plans to head back to Alaska, Ada and baby by train and boat, while Noel would fly
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#1732801812102372-524: Is visible at local midnight , and at least once the centre is not visible at local noon . Directly on the Arctic Circle these events occur, in principle, exactly once per year: at the June and December solstices , respectively. However, because of atmospheric refraction and mirages , and also because the sun appears as a disk and not a point, part of the midnight sun is visible, on the night of
403-700: Is one of the two polar circles , and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle . The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at which, on the winter solstice (which is the shortest day of the year) in the Northern Hemisphere , the Sun will not rise all day, and on the Northern Hemisphere's summer solstice (which
434-510: Is the longest day of the year), the Sun will not set. These phenomena are referred to as polar night and midnight sun respectively, and the further north one progresses, the more pronounced these effects become. For example, in the Russian port city of Murmansk , three degrees above the Arctic Circle, the Sun does not rise above the horizon for 40 successive days in midwinter. The position of
465-545: The Arctic Ocean , the Scandinavian Peninsula , North Asia , Northern America , and Greenland. The land within the Arctic Circle is divided among eight countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, the United States ( Alaska ), Canada ( Yukon , Northwest Territories , and Nunavut ), Denmark (Greenland), and Iceland (where it passes through the small offshore island of Grímsey ). The climate north of
496-506: The Greek word ἀρκτικός ( arktikos : "near the Bear , northern") and that from the word ἄρκτος ( arktos : " bear "). The Arctic Circle is the southernmost latitude in the Northern Hemisphere at which the centre of the Sun can remain continuously above or below the horizon for twenty-four hours; as a result, at least once each year at any location within the Arctic Circle the centre of the Sun
527-526: The Arctic Circle is generally cold, but the coastal areas of Norway have a generally mild climate as a result of the Gulf Stream , which makes the ports of northern Norway and northwest Russia ice-free all year long. In the interior, summers can be quite warm, while winters are extremely cold. For example, summer temperatures in Norilsk , Russia will sometimes reach as high as 30 °C (86 °F), while
558-589: The Arctic Circle is not fixed and currently runs 66°33′50.2″ north of the Equator . Its latitude depends on the Earth's axial tilt , which fluctuates within a margin of more than 2° over a 41,000-year period, owing to tidal forces resulting from the orbit of the Moon . Consequently, the Arctic Circle is currently drifting northwards at a speed of about 14.5 m (48 ft) per year. The word arctic comes from
589-604: The Arctic Circle with about 5,000 inhabitants. The largest such community in Canada is Inuvik in the Northwest Territories , with 3,137 inhabitants. Download coordinates as: The Arctic Circle is roughly 16,000 km (9,900 mi) in circumference. The area north of the Circle is about 20,000,000 km (7,700,000 sq mi) and covers roughly 4% of Earth's surface. The Arctic Circle passes through
620-466: The Arctic Circle, lying 6 km (4 mi) south of the line. Salekhard (51,186) in Russia is the only city in the world located directly on the Arctic Circle. In contrast, the largest North American community north of the Arctic Circle, Sisimiut ( Greenland ), has approximately 5,600 inhabitants. In the United States, Utqiagvik, Alaska (formerly known as Barrow) is the largest settlement north of
651-799: The Fairbanks Airplane Company. Noel headed south to barnstorm the midwest in 1926, then headed back to Alaska with his brother Fritz in March 1927. In 1926, Noel was issued pilot license No. 39 signed by Fédération Aéronautique Internationale Official Orville Wright . Noel and Ralph Wien went into partnership with Gene Miller, and purchased a very used Hisso Standard from the Fairbanks Airplane Co. in 1927. In June they established their business in Nome, servicing Candle , Deering , Kotzebue , and Point Hope . At
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#1732801812102682-497: The Goldpanners are listed, with the exception of the 2020 contest. The Goldpanners are 49-15 all-time. 64°50′27″N 147°45′32″W / 64.84083°N 147.75889°W / 64.84083; -147.75889 Noel Wien Noel Wien (June 8, 1899 – July 19, 1977) was an American pioneer aviator . He was the founder of Wien Alaska Airways . Wien was born in Lake Nebagamon, Wisconsin , but
713-511: The Stinson with his master mechanic brother Sigurd (Sig). Sadly though, news arrived on 12 Oct. of Ralph's death in a Kotzebue crash. Their return was delayed until Dec. 1930, so they could bury Ralph in Cook. Noel flew for Alaskan Airways from Feb. 1931 until Jan. 1932, after selling them his Stinson. In Aug. 1932, once his non-compete clause ended, he restarted Wien Airways of Alaska, Inc., with
744-423: The end of the summer of 1927, Noel went into business for himself, purchasing a Stinson Detroiter he could fly year round, from Hubert Wilkins . Noel, and his Wien Alaska Airways, started a regular weekly round trip flight between Fairbanks and Nome. Noel also secured special air mail flights during the spring and fall breakup. Ralph and Noel made skis for the plane, from 8 by 1 foot hickory wood, modeled after
775-539: The family moved to a homestead in 1905, to a place now called Cook, Minnesota . In May 1921, he learned to fly a JN-4 in 8 hours, from Major Ray S. Miller, commander of the 109th Minnesota Air Squadron and manager of the Curtiss Northwest Airplane Company's flying school. Unable to pay the bond required to solo, Wien took a job with E.W. Morrill 15 June 1921, helping to fly and maintain his Standard J-1 while barnstorming . After
806-408: The newly prepared Delaney Park Strip , took place on 4 June 1924. This was soon followed by Anchorage's first passenger flights, and Wien put on Anchorage's first aerobatic show for the 4th of July celebrations. Then on 6 July, Wien and Bill Yunker, made the first flight from Anchorage to Fairbanks, flying from Delaney Park Strip to Weeks Field . They completed the flight in under 4 hours, while
837-411: The northern summer solstice , at a latitude of about 50 minutes of arc (′) (90 km (56 mi)) south of the Arctic Circle. Similarly, on the day of the northern winter solstice , part of the Sun may be seen up to about 50′ north of the Arctic Circle. That is true at sea level ; those limits increase with elevation above sea level , although in mountainous regions there is often no direct view of
868-409: The skis their father made back in Minnesota. Wien added a second plane, a Waco 9 , in the spring of 1928, and taught Ralph and Fritz to fly. On 20 Oct. 1928, Wien Alaska Airways, Inc. was incorporated with Noel as president, Ralph as vice-president, and Miners and Merchants Bank president Granville (Grant) R. Jackson as secretary. The new company built a hangar at Weeks Field and promptly ordered
899-528: The trip via Alaska Railroad took 2 days. Then, on 19 Aug. 1924, Wien made the first bush flight to Livengood, Alaska in support of the mining operations located there, making the trip in under an hour when it took several days via dog sled. That Oct., Wien made the first flight over the Arctic Circle . During the following winter season, the Standards sat idle. In Feb. 1925, Wien purchased
930-516: The true horizon. The largest communities north of the Arctic Circle are situated in Russia, Norway, and Sweden: Murmansk (population 295,374) and Norilsk (178,018) in Russia; Tromsø (75,638) in Norway, Vorkuta (58,133) in Russia, Bodø (52,357) and Harstad (24,703) in Norway; and Kiruna , Sweden (22,841). Rovaniemi (62,667) in Finland is the largest settlement in the immediate vicinity of
961-785: Was abandoned on Walker Lake . On 7 March 1929, Noel and Calvin (Doc) Cripe made the first flight across the Bering Strait , the first nonstop flight from America to Asia (Nome to North Cape ), and return the next day. The flight was at the request of the Swenson Herskovitz Trading Company to fly furs out of an ice bound Elisif . Noel married Ada Bering Arthurs, of Nome, on 19 May 1929. After which, Noel moved his company headquarters to Fairbanks. In 1929, Noel, Ralph and Grant Jackson sold Wien Alaska Airways to Avco . Noel's company plus Anchorage Air Transport and Bennett-Rodebaugh were merged into