The WinXL default dates start with 31 December 1899, so earlier "dates"
are interpreted as Text.

You can use helper columns and text functions (LEFT(),RIGHT(),MID()) to
put the Year, Month and Day in separate columns, then sort.

Take a look here for additional workarounds:

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

In article ,
"Smith295" wrote:

I have posted a cemetery survey on Excell spreadsheet. When I try to sort
the birth dates or death dates in ascending or descending order the range of
1900 dates will sort but the 1800 dates fall after the 1900 and will not
sort. Why? Is this inherit with this program?