In the early morning OR on the early morning

Question

On the early morning of February 5, arsonists tossed firebombs through the window of Lum's Restaurant.

Convinced of the imminent collapse of his authority, Batista left the country in the early morning of January 1, 1959

These sentences are from newspapers. Would they remain correct if ON and IN were swapped around?

We usually use on with dates and in with times of day. Because these two sentences include both, the issue isn't so clear-cut, and the different journalists have made different choices. — Kate Bunting, Nov 18 '22 at 08:54
And because of what Kate said, the first one focuses on the date it happened, while the second one focuses on the time of day it happened. — gotube, Nov 18 '22 at 17:25
Does this answer your question? In the morning VS on the morning Also in the morning of, on the morning of and perhaps "in the morning on Sunday" and "on the morning of Sunday" — FumbleFingers, Nov 18 '22 at 18:03

score 1 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 18 '22 at 17:29

Based on Kate Bunting's comment:
We usually use on with dates and in with times of day. Because these two sentences include both, the issue isn't so clear-cut, and the different journalists have made different choices.

Because of that, the first sentence focuses on the date it happened, while the second one focuses on the time of day it happened.

I can imagine the first sentence coming from a police report giving a dry timeline of events, while I can see the second sentence coming from a novel where we experience Batista's flight in the early morning.

So, yes, the sentences would remain correct if "in" and "on" were swapped, but the focus would change.

In the early morning OR on the early morning

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