.TP
 \fBfield\fP \fIidentifier\fP = \fIhuman_readable_name\fP [ , \fItype\fP ]
 Defines a new custom field. \fItype\fP can be one of 'string' (default)
-, 'emails', 'list', or 'day'.
+, 'emails', 'list', or 'date'.
 
 .TP
 \fBview\fP \fIview name\fP = \fIfield1\fP [ , \fIfield2\fP, ... ]
 # Declare a few custom fields
 field pager = Pager
 field address_lines = Address, list
-field birthday = Birthday, day
+field birthday = Birthday, date
 
 # Define how fields should be displayed in tabs
 view CONTACT = name, email
 
        {"nick",        N_("Nickname/Alias"),   FIELD_STRING}, /* NICK */
        {"url",         N_("URL"),              FIELD_STRING}, /* URL */
        {"notes",       N_("Notes"),            FIELD_STRING}, /* NOTES */
-       {"anniversary", N_("Anniversary day"),  FIELD_DAY},    /* ANNIVERSARY */
+       {"anniversary", N_("Anniversary day"),  FIELD_DATE},   /* ANNIVERSARY */
        {0} /* ITEM_FIELDS */
 };
 
                f->type = FIELD_EMAILS;
        else if(0 == strcasecmp("list", type))
                f->type = FIELD_LIST;
-       else if(0 == strcasecmp("day", type))
-               f->type = FIELD_DAY;
+       else if(0 == strcasecmp("date", type))
+               f->type = FIELD_DATE;
        else
                return _("unknown type");
 
                        case FIELD_STRING:
                                max_field_len = MAX_FIELD_LEN;
                                break;
-                       case FIELD_DAY:
+                       case FIELD_DATE:
                                break;
                        default:
                                assert(0);
 
 
 WINDOW *editw;
 
+static int parse_date_string(char *s, int *day, int *month, int *year);
+
 
 static void
 editor_tab(const int tab)
                                                EDITW_COLS - TAB_COLON_POS - 2);
                        }
                        abook_list_free(&emails);
+               } else if(cur->field->type == FIELD_DATE) {
+                       int day, month, year;
+                       char buf[12];
+
+                       find_field_number(cur->field->key, &nb);
+                       if((str = db_fget_byid(item, nb)) != NULL)
+                               strncpy(buf, str, sizeof(buf));
+
+                       if(str && parse_date_string(buf, &day, &month, &year)) {
+                               str = strdup_printf(year ? " %04d-%02d-%02d" :
+                                       "%c%02d-%02d", year ? year : ' ',
+                                       month, day);
+                               mvwaddnstr(editw, y, TAB_COLON_POS + 2, str,
+                                       bytes2width(str, FIELD_MAX_WIDTH));
+                               free(str);
+                       }
                } else {
                        find_field_number(cur->field->key, &nb);
                        str = safe_str(db_fget_byid(item, nb));
        abook_list_free(&list);
 }
 
+static int is_valid_date(const int day, const int month, const int year)
+{
+       int valid = 1;
+       int month_length[13] =
+               { 0, 31, 28, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31, 31, 30, 31, 30, 31 };
+
+       /*
+        * leap year
+        */
+       if ((!(year % 4)) && ((year % 100) || !(year % 400)))
+               month_length[2] = 29;
+
+       if (month < 1 || month > 12)
+               valid = 0;
+       else if (day < 1 || day > month_length[month])
+               valid = 0;
+       else if (year < 0) /* we don't accept negative year numbers */
+               valid = 0;
+
+       return valid;
+}
+
+static int
+parse_date_string(char *s, int *day, int *month, int *year)
+{
+       int i = 0;
+       char *p = s;
+       assert(s && day && month && year);
+
+       if(*s == '-' && *s++ == '-') { /* omitted year */
+               *year = 0;
+               p = ++s;
+               i++;
+       }
+
+       while(*s) {
+               if(isdigit(*s)) {
+                       s++;
+                       continue;
+               } else if(*s == '-') {
+                       if(++i > 3)
+                               return FALSE;
+                       *s++ = '\0';
+                       switch(i) {
+                               case 1: *year = atoi(p); break;
+                               case 2: *month = atoi(p); break;
+                       }
+                       p = s;
+               } else
+               return FALSE;
+       }
+
+       if (i != 2 || !*p)
+               return FALSE;
+
+       *day = atoi(p);
+
+       return is_valid_date(*day, *month, *year);
+}
+
+static int
+is_number(char *s)
+{
+       char *p;
+
+       for(p = s; *p; p++)
+               if(!isdigit(*p))
+                       return FALSE;
+       return TRUE;
+}
+
+static void
+edit_date(int item, int nb)
+{
+       int i, date[3], old = FALSE;
+       char buf[12], *s = db_fget_byid(item, nb);
+       char *field[] = { N_("Day: "), N_("Month: "), N_("Year (optional): ") };
+
+       if(s) {
+               strncpy(buf, s, sizeof(buf));
+               old = parse_date_string(buf, &date[0], &date[1], &date[2]);
+       }
+
+       for(i = 0; i < 3; i++) {
+               s = (old && date[i]) ? strdup_printf("%d", date[i]) : NULL;
+               if(change_field(gettext(field[i]), &s, 5))
+                       return; /* user aborted with ^G */
+
+               date[i] = (s && is_number(s)) ? atoi(s) : 0;
+
+               if(!s) {
+                       switch(i) {
+                               case 0: db_fput_byid(item, nb, NULL); /*delete*/
+                               case 1: /* fall through */ return;
+                       }
+               } else
+                       xfree(s);
+       }
+
+       /* ISO 8601 date, of the YYYY-MM-DD or --MM-DD format */
+       if(is_valid_date(date[0], date[1], date[2])) {
+               s = strdup_printf(date[2] ? "%04d-%02d-%02d" : "%c-%02d-%02d",
+                       date[2] ? date[2] : '-', date[1], date[0]);
+               db_fput_byid(item, nb, xstrdup(s));
+       } else
+               statusline_msg(_("Invalid date"));
+}
 
 /* input range: 1-9A-Z
  * output range: 0-34 */
                case FIELD_EMAILS:
                        edit_list(item_number, idx, 1);
                        break;
-               case FIELD_DAY:
-                       statusline_msg(_("sorry, input for this field type is "
-                                               "not yet implemented"));
+               case FIELD_DATE:
+                       edit_date(item_number, idx);
                        return;
                default:
                        assert(0);