Question

What is the proper way to use a date? 08 February 2012 or 8 February 2012? Where would that rule come from? I know how to get around it (i.e., February 8, 2012) but wondered about the other use.

Answer 1

There is no reason to use leading zeros at all, and even dates expressed in "slash" notation shouldn't use them, e.g. it should be 2/8/12 or 8/2/12 if you want to be European. The only reason anybody writes 2/08/12 or even 02/08/12 is from long experience with primitive computer forms that simply require two digits for the month and day.

The year is a different story, because you're using only the last two digits of a four digit number, so the zeros, if any, are embedded, not leading. Hence you should indeed write 2/8/07 for February 8, 2007, and not 2/8/7, because the latter could reasonably be construed to mean February 8, 7 (seven years after the birth of Christ).

The military uses leading zeros in its time, e.g. you write 0830 for 8:30, and for all I know in dates as well, e.g. they might well use 08 Feb 2012, and that may well come from the fact that dates and times have often been transmitted by radio and other inherently noisy means, and you want to be absolutely sure that there is no missing digit, i.e. that the radio operator didn't simply miss the initial "1" so that it should have been 1830 or 18 Feb 2012. By transmitting and writing down the zero you confirm that there really is no other leading digit.

Answer 2

For a formal paper it is 8 febuary 2012