With Date's downto method, count down five days, displaying each date as you go (this makes in-place changes to the date)
require 'date'
date = Date.new( 2006, 11, 8 )
date.downto( date - 5 ) { |date| puts date }
# date has changed
date.to_s # => "2007-11-03"
Related examples in the same category