Sort by month, then by day within month
mysql> mysql> CREATE TABLE event -> ( -> date DATE, -> description VARCHAR(255) -> ); Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec) mysql> mysql> INSERT INTO event (date,description) -> VALUES -> ('1789-07-04','US Independence Day'), -> ('1776-07-14','Bastille Day'), -> ('1957-10-04','Sputnik launch date'), -> ('1958-01-31','Explorer 1 launch date'), -> ('1919-06-28','Signing of the Treaty of Versailles'), -> ('1732-02-22','George Washington\'s birthday'), -> ('1989-11-09','Opening of the Berlin Wall'), -> ('1944-06-06','D-Day at Normandy Beaches'), -> ('1215-06-15','Signing of the Magna Carta'), -> ('1809-02-12','database Lincoln\'s birthday'); Query OK, 10 rows affected (0.00 sec) Records: 10 Duplicates: 0 Warnings: 0 mysql> mysql> SELECT * FROM event; +------------+-------------------------------------+ | date | description | +------------+-------------------------------------+ | 1789-07-04 | US Independence Day | | 1776-07-14 | Bastille Day | | 1957-10-04 | Sputnik launch date | | 1958-01-31 | Explorer 1 launch date | | 1919-06-28 | Signing of the Treaty of Versailles | | 1732-02-22 | George Washington's birthday | | 1989-11-09 | Opening of the Berlin Wall | | 1944-06-06 | D-Day at Normandy Beaches | | 1215-06-15 | Signing of the Magna Carta | | 1809-02-12 | database Lincoln's birthday | +------------+-------------------------------------+ 10 rows in set (0.00 sec) mysql> mysql> mysql> SELECT date, description FROM event ORDER BY MONTH(date), DAYOFMONTH(date); +------------+-------------------------------------+ | date | description | +------------+-------------------------------------+ | 1958-01-31 | Explorer 1 launch date | | 1809-02-12 | database Lincoln's birthday | | 1732-02-22 | George Washington's birthday | | 1944-06-06 | D-Day at Normandy Beaches | | 1215-06-15 | Signing of the Magna Carta | | 1919-06-28 | Signing of the Treaty of Versailles | | 1789-07-04 | US Independence Day | | 1776-07-14 | Bastille Day | | 1957-10-04 | Sputnik launch date | | 1989-11-09 | Opening of the Berlin Wall | +------------+-------------------------------------+ 10 rows in set (0.00 sec) mysql> mysql> drop table event; Query OK, 0 rows affected (0.00 sec)