Editing Template:Date table sort/doc (section)

==What it solves==
Dates in their customary formats, if simply treated as alphanumeric text strings, sort in nonsensical ways:
*1 September 1998 sorts alphanumerically before 5 March 1967, because ''1'' is less than ''5'';
*February 5, 1922 sorts alphanumerically before January 3, 1922, because ''F'' comes before ''J''.
Use of the YYYY-MM-DD format would solve this problem, but with minor exceptions that format is not used in articles.

This template automatically attaches a "hidden key" to dates, causing them to sort correctly while still being displayed in one of the customary display formats such as ''February 5, 1922'' or ''5 Feb 1922''.