UK Date

[sanuanu]

Hey All,
I hv a question to all of you if ur interested.
Why do the american dates are in different style
as
MM-DD-YYYY
but other follow
DD-MM-YYYY

Do u hv any answers to tht
I m waiting

[noodlebunny]

Same way why we use pounds instead of kilos; farhenheit instead of celcius; quarts and gallons instead of liters; miles instead of kilometers; etc. I will let you do the math.

[kapsee]

Traditionally Americans did things differently from the way the British did. Americans chose to drive on the right British and Commonwealth countries on left; Americans switched-on light pushing switch up, British down; Americans call Apartments, British flats; Americans call Gas, British petrol; what of the spellings... Americans don't like the 'u' the British use in many many words as you are well aware. There will be many more interesting examples. Date format too falls in the same pattern.
kapsee

[backstage]

This order is used in the United States and countries with U.S. influence (but the U.S. federal government sometimes uses day, month, year). England originally used day, month, year, then for a short while used month, day, year, and finally reverted to the original form (day, month, year) which was revived around 1900; the USA chose to stick with month, day, year, but did originally use day, month, year as the English did as can be noted from "the 4th of July" independence day. The big endian convention is also frequently used in Canada, but all three conventions are used there.


(day, month, year) is used by:

* Albania
* Argentina
* Australia
* Austria
* Belgium
* Belarus
* Bolivia
* Brazil
* Bulgaria
* Canada
* Chile
* Colombia
* Czech Republic
* Denmark (often in the fraction form d/m-y otherwise dd-mm-yyyy)
* Dominican Republic
* Ecuador
* El Salvador
* Estonia
* Finland (d.m.y)
* France
* Germany (form “d.m.yyyy” is still often used; but see below)
* Greece
* Guyana
* Hong Kong (in English)
* Iceland
* Ireland
* India
* Israel
* Italy
* Kenya
* Latvia (dd.mm.yyyy is used more often, but official standard is year-month-day)
* Macau
* Malaysia
* Mexico
* Netherlands
* New Zealand
* Norway (d.m.y; the fraction form d/m-y is common, but incorrect)
* Paraguay
* Peru
* Poland
* Portugal
* Romania
* Russia
* Slovakia
* Slovenia
* Spain
* Singapore
* Sweden (in the fraction form d/m-y, otherwise yyyy-mm-dd)
* Switzerland
* Thailand (with Buddhist Era instead of Common Era)
* Turkey
* Ukraine
* United Kingdom
* Uruguay
* Venezuela

(month, day, year) is used by:

* Canada
* Federated States of Micronesia
* Palau
* Philippines (formerly d/m/y. May still be found in certain contexts)
* United States (Although Independence Day is often referred to as "the Fourth of July.")

[kapsee]

I have nothing against what format which country uses. When these formats were established differently in different countries there were no computers and no accounting machines. There were manual typewriters or hand written communication. So personal preference impact of date format was minimum or none unless you used only numbers and not text for the month. In this computer age the impact is far greater as databases, for some global applications, are shared across nations to develop and implement different applications. Date fields can create havoc unless you are careful about the original source of the database and the programs dealing with the date fields appropriately during software development.
kaps

[humpty]

I think it's ego and pride of either one of them or both that leads to such differences. It's like, one of them (or even both) must be thinking, I'm special, we're special, we don't wanna follow the other one, our's more unique, we must be original, we can't follow what they have invented, we must invent our own, and so on and so forth.

Thus, we have such differences now, our great great great ancestors made it like this, and over centuries, we are caught in all these differences instead of a standardized version of these small little things across the globe.

Anyone agrees?

[kapsee]

I more than agree with you because if you read human history most epoch making events with negative connotation were triggered by ego and ego alone. That still prevails, else why would date format not be standardized. I will vote for ddmmyy as this is the oldest standard created by the British.

[peachey]

In America it is personal preference the way you would use any of the diffrent systems. Some like the old way where others use the new way.

We were taught the mm/dd/yyyy way in school...military is dd/mm/yyyy as they use time as 23 hundred hours as I would say it is 11:00

Now days there are alot of things that are becoming this way again the old way ( I say the old way to me but to you it is common) with the liters and meters. As older ones we are having to start to learn that system as it is being used more and more these day. In the schools they are teaching both ways of the systems.

[sanuanu]

Instead of quarrelling on the format of date, why can't we develop a more specific format on which we all should agree.
Like
DD-MMM-YYYY...

as my birthday would be written as:->

03-Jan-1982.

Can it become world wide famous... without any confusion..

[peachey]

Yes there can be a unionized like that.

But who is going to get this done. You would have to contact each country and have a plan to get this going to what trillion or zillion of people to do it all the same..and why you are doing that ...what about getting everyone to smile the same time....

huh????

[sanuanu]

Just to avoid a confusion over the date! this is why we should do the same.


Yes, its the same difficult as making people smiling at the same time....

but using the same format is what makes all of us unite..

that's what i think

[humpty]

it's impossible to make those changes my fren, the "battle" has been started like wayyyy back in th epast, so, i don't think there's anyway for any of us to change it now, sadly hehhee

[peachey]

Agree no changing the system...Peachy to old to change lol

That is like now in the US they are trying or have been trying to change the weights to liters and all that and the distance and the ferinhite....

Difficult right now ..like when i grew up and went to school we were taught the old stuff to all of you ..that is what I used and still do.. I cannot get use to the new stuff...I would have to carry about a book to tell me the diffence because the brain in set with the old things...

[sanuanu]

Hmmm, that's why we see lots of formats in computer's regional settings.
Well, keep changing and learning new things is called life....

If it is impossible then what can we do....

but when there is a willl..........

[peachey]

there is a way ...he he ...

You are right but guess that is not in my brain to think or worry about right now but since you have come up with it ...

I make you project manager of getting this started he he

Maybe humpty will help you ..he can be co project manager and I hear rocky is in the financial business she can be your advisor on that he he