American vs. European Date formats (Modified by Grant Barrett)

[Grant Barrett]

Speaking of British vs. American, this query from a visitor to the ADS
web site needs answering. Anyone? Please respond to the original
querent and the list.

......

Hi,

Sorry for the interruption but I have question which I can't really
find the answer for in any definitive way. Most of the world uses the
date forum month/day/year but the United States uses day/month/year.
The only reason I can think why this is so, is down to dialect. People
in the US will say I was born on March 12, 1984 (for example) whereas I
would say it "I was born on the 12th of March, 1984".

Can you point me to any historical references or ideas as to why we
differ in our speech in this way.

Thank you

Alan O'Flaherty
oflaherty at o2.ie