I wrote that the date is optional in POP3/SMTP based email. Since there is no date in some emails, the email clients might fill it in with a "beginning of time" or other date/time.
Short answer? The date/time is not required for email.
Bob
I use Mozilla 1.7.10 to read my email. When I click on my Inbox, all the email it contains is shown in a separate pane with columns for Subject, Sender and Date.
I had always assumed these dates were either the date they were sent or the date they were received in my Inbox. On all emails I receive this appears to be the case except for email from the CNET Forums notifying me of new postings to threads I'm tracking. These always show a date of 12/31/69!
I have a second computer (with a different email account) that I hadn't been using for CNET Forums. Just for kicks, I logged on a Forum, with a new user name, and tracked a thread. The notification I received of a new posting showed a date that appears to be the date sent or received in my Inbox!
This isn't a major problem, I'm just curious if anyone knows why this is happening. Both computers run Windows XP Home with all Critical Updates and Mozilla 1.7.10. The one that gets the 12/31/69 dates has McAfee anti virus and MS firewall. The other, AVG antivirus and MS firewall.

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