IBM 5150 Manual To Operations page 81

Telling DOS the Date
When DOS is loaded and ready, you will see something
similar to this on the screen:
Enter today's date
\
The cursor shows where the
fIrst number you type will
appear.
It's an excellent idea to fill in the current date whenever
you start (or restart) DOS because then any files that
you create or change will have the correct date stored in
the file directory-helpful information months later, if
you can't remember exactly which file has the most
current information. (You'll learn about files and
directories in a little bit.)
To set the date, use the number keys across the top of
the keyboard:
1
Type one or two numbers between 1 and 12 for the
month.
2
Type a dash
g
or a slash
U .
3
Type one or two numbers between 1 and 31 for the
day.
4
Type another dash or slash.
5
Type two numbers between 80 and 99 for the year.
6
Press the Enter key
~.
DOS 3-7