[mc32]

But special sales at stores and online do begin at midnight. Say new playstation, iPhone, Xbox, etc.

[marsrover]

Well, it's not ambiguous what the word "midnight" means.

[FabHK]

It is, when it's attached to a day - it could be at the very beginning of that day or the very end.

[SllX]

Friday Midnight is the same as Midnight Saturday Morning.

I mean there is no standards committee for this, but that's what common convention tells us in the Anglophone part of the world.

[FabHK]

Is "midnight 1st January 2017" unambiguous? Would it be in a legal document?

I've often enough seen "1st January 2017, 11:59 pm" or, even worse, "1st January 2017, 12:01 am" for deadlines etc.

[SllX]

Would you rely on common conventions in a legal document rather than legally defined terms?