How Do You Write the Date?

WE ARE OPEN REGULAR HOURS TODAY, DECEMBER 11^TH.

 

Computer Classes every Sat. mornings 10-12. "Open House" Whatever you need. Drop in anytime during those two hours.

 

 

Genealogy tip for today: Dates – Today is 11/12/13

 

If you wrote today’s date in two digit format, it would be 11/12/13. To translate that into days and months, and the correct year, what would today’s date be? Dates are at the very core of genealogy. Names are very important, but if we didn’t have dates we wouldn’t know how to link the names together. 

We talked awhile back about things we already know – that we don’t realize – goes into doing genealogy: writing papers when in school, taking history and geography classes, reading up on current events, interest in reading historical books, use of the library, enjoying documentaries, and more.  

Even if you spent time in the military, the service prepares you. How, you say? Filling out reports and using military style dates can be useful preparation. In genealogy you fill out a lot of forms. When you first start, if you don’t take a class or a tutorial, or do some background-research on line, you may not realize there is a standard way of filling out forms and writing dates. 

With social media and grassroots use of online genealogy sites, you will see a mixture of how dates (and places) are written. This is a perfect example why it is important to use standard formats. A lot of mistakes and misinformation comes about because wrong formats are used.

International Standards talks about the different formats that are typical to different countries. The biggest confusion comes with days that are numerically 1-12. You have no way of knowing if the day or the month is first, until you find a date that the day is beyond 12. Then you can determine the format. Consequently, the ISO states that you should start with the largest and go to the smallest denomination of time, i.e. year-month-day, especially in writing numbers. The official designation is thus – yyyy/mm/dd.

It is important to use the whole number for the year. At the time of use it is understood what year is meant, but when you are looking at historical documents, it is easy to confuse what year is being discussed. So for posterity, use all four digits. Months and days never go beyond two digits and so no more than two are needed. 

As I mentioned, dates are written differently from country to country. Even within countries, dates are written differently, depending on the discipline. Military, medicine, and genealogy use a different format than the standard use in American society. These are written smallest to largest. 

So it is important to learn from the beginning that there is a right way and a wrong way to write dates, in genealogy. As we’ve said before there are a lot of things we already know that are used or helpful when doing genealogy. Sometimes things we think we know, going into genealogy, would be wrong to use. 

What is the “right” way? Maybe we should say the “standard” way is to do dates and locations from the smallest measurement to the largest. Therefore, for dates, the format is day-month-year, i.e. dd/mm/yyyy.  So today’s date, when written fully in numbers would be 11/12/2013. Everyone thus knows that today is the 11^th of  December, of the year 2013, A.D.  

So remember dates are the glue that links the names together! To prevent confusion, mistakes or misinformation, there is a standard way dates must be written when doing genealogy: i.e. dd/mm/yyyy. If acronyms help you remember, think of this as “dimmy” and you’ll get it right every time.

 

“History – it’s who we are; Genealogy – it’s who I am” sg 

 

If any of these posts are helpful drop us a line in the comments section below. We just want to know if the information we provide to you is helpful in anyway.

 

 

 

 

James II

Today in History 1688   James II abdicates the throne because of William of Orange landing in England. 1816   Indiana is admitted to the Union as the 19th state. 1861   A raging fire sweeps the business district of Charleston, South Carolina, adding to an already depressed economic state. 1862   Union General Ambrose Burnside occupies Fredericksburg and prepares to attack the Confederates under Robert E. Lee. 1863   Union gunboats Restless, Bloomer and Caroline enter St. Andrew's Bay, Fla., and begin bombardment of both Confederate quarters and saltworks. 1882   A production of Gilbert and Sullivan's Iolanthe at Boston's Bijou Theatre becomes the first performance in a theatre lit by incandescent electric lights. 1927   Nearly 400 world leaders sign a letter to President Calvin Coolidge asking the United States to join the World Court. 1930   As the economic crisis grows, the Bank of the United States closes its doors. 1933   Reports say Paraguay has captured 11,000 Bolivians in the war over Chaco. 1936   Britain's King Edward VIII abdicates the throne to marry American Wallis Warfield Simpson. 1941   The United States declares war on Italy and Germany. 1943   U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull demands that Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria withdraw from the war. 1945   A Boeing B-29 Superfortress shatters all records by crossing the United States in five hours and 27 minutes. 1951   Joe DiMaggio announces his retirement from baseball. 1955   Israel raids Syrian positions on the Sea of Galilee. 1964   Frank Sinatra, Jr., is returned home to his parents after being kidnapped for the ransom amount of $240,000. 1967   The Concorde, a joint British-French venture and the world's first supersonic airliner, is unveiled in Toulouse, France. 1972   Challenger, the lunar lander for Apollo 17, touches down on the moon's surface, the last time that men visit the moon. 1978   Massive demonstrations take place in Tehran against the shah. 1981   Military forces in El Salvador kill over 800 civilians in what is known as the El Mozote massacre during the Salvadoran Civil War. 1997   The Kyoto Protocol international treaty intended to reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses, opens for signature. 2001   People's Republic of China joins the World Trade Organization. 2005   Cronulla riots begin in Cronulla, a suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. 2006   President of Mexico Felipe Calderon launches a military-led offensive against drug cartel violence in the state of Michoacan. 2008   Bernard "Bernie" Madoff arrested and charged with securities fraud in what was called a $50-billion Ponzi scheme.

Hamish and Andy

Birthdays today

1803		Hector Berlioz, French composer and conductor (Symphonie Fantastique, La Damnation de Faust).
1843		Robert Koch, physician and medical researcher.
1882		Fiorella H. La Guardia, mayor of New York City from 1933 to 1945.
1911		Naguib Mahfouz, Nobel Prize-winning Egyptian novelist.
1918		Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Russian writer and winner of the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize. Famous for The Gulag Archipelago.
1922		Grace Paley, short story writer.
1926		Willie "Big Mama" Thorton, blues singer.
1937		Jim Harrison, novelist and poet (Legends of the Fall).
1939		Tom McGuane, novelist and screenwriter (The Sporting Club, Bushwacked Piano).
1939		Tom Hayden, social and political activist; author, politician.
1940		Donna Mills, actress (Knots Landing TV series, Play Misty for Me movie).
1943		John Kerry, politician; unsuccessful Democratic nominee for President of the United States (2004); secretary of state (2013– ).
1944		Teri Garr, actress, dancer (Tootsie, Mr. Mom).
1944		Brenda Lee, singer; her 37 US chart hits in the 1960s is surpassed only by Elvis Presley, The Beatles, Ray Charles and Connie Francis ("I'm Sorry," "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree").
1950		Christina Onassis, businesswoman; inherited and operated the Onassis shipping business.
1981		Hamish Blake, Australian comedian, actor, author; won Gold Logie Award for "Most Popular Personality on Television"; half of award-winning comedy duo Hamish and Andy (Andy Lee).

 

 

Word for the Day

cullet

PRONUNCIATION:

(KUHL-it)

 

MEANING:

noun: Scrap glass suitable for remelting.

 

ETYMOLOGY:

From French collet, diminutive of col (neck), from Latin collum (neck), apparently referring to a bottle's neck. Earliest documented use: 1817.

 

USAGE:

"The resulting cullet is purchased by Owens Corning and remanufactured into fiberglass used in home insulation."
Melissa Treolo; New Metro-Wide Glass Recycling Venture Finds Success; Basehor Sentinel (Kansas); Mar 11, 2010.

Quote for the Day

The luck of having talent is not enough; one must also have a talent for luck. -Hector Berlioz, composer (1803-1869)

 

Today’s Recipe

Holiday Cooking

Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake

 

Ingredients

1-1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup crushed cream-filled chocolate sandwich cookies

6 tablespoons butter, melted

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

FILLING:

3 packages (8 ounces each) cream cheese, softened

1 cup sugar

1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream

1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 eggs, lightly beaten

1 cup hot fudge ice cream topping, divided

6 peanut butter cups, cut into small wedges

Directions

In a large bowl, combine the cracker crumbs, sugar, cookie crumbs and butter. Press onto the bottom and 1 in. up the sides of a greased 9-in. spring form pan. Place on a baking sheet.

Bake at 350° for 7-9 minutes or until set. Cool on a wire rack.

In a microwave-safe bowl, heat peanut butter on high for 30 seconds or until softened. Spread over crust to within 1 in. of edges.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar until smooth. Beat in sour cream and vanilla. Add eggs; beat on low speed just until combined. Pour 1 cup into a bowl; set aside. Pour remaining filling over peanut butter layer.

In a microwave, heat 1/4 cup fudge topping on high for 30 seconds or until thin; fold into reserved cream cheese mixture. Carefully pour over filling; cut through with a knife to swirl.

Return pan to baking sheet. Bake at 350° for 55-65 minutes or until center is almost set. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes.

Carefully run a knife around edge of pan to loosen; cool 1 hour longer.

Microwave remaining fudge topping for 30 seconds or until warmed; spread over cheesecake. Garnish with peanut butter cups. Refrigerate overnight. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 12-14 servings.

 

 

ENJOY!

 

Now You Know!