Phil,

Use John Walkenbach's XDATE addin (eXtended DATE), available at

http://www.j-walk.com/ss/excel/files/xdate.htm

HTH,
Bernie
MS Excel MVP


"Phil" wrote in message
...
Is it possible to reset the default base of 1/1/1900 to a substantially
earlier date (say 1/1 1700). The reason for asking is that in most
genealogical research into families, we are woking with dates in the 17th and
18th centuries. The current default means is is impossible to sort on these
dates in an Excel Spreadshet