For example, if you are trying to remember the date 1732, the year in which George Washington was born, every time you think of that date, imagine a small boy wearing a Washington-type wig and chopping down a cherry tree while saying “I cannot tell a lie!” Similarly, you could also imagine a person dressed as George Washington “making it rain” with $1,732 dollars in one-dollar bills (which feature a portrait of Washington on the front).
Raise your arm up dramatically like a Roman orator when trying to remember the date 44 BC, the year in which the Roman Emperor Julius Caesar was assassinated. Memorize dates by singing them to the melody of your favorite song.
If you are learning a set of historical dates, make a timeline as you seek to memorize them. This helps to put the dates in some kind of relation to each other, and to show logical connections between them. The more you can contextualize the dates, the more meaning they will have to you; the more meaning they have, the greater your chances of remembering them. If you are learning birthdates of your family members, map them out on a family tree that you draw out. As you practice memorizing the dates each day, you can visualize “climbing” the family tree to recall all of the dates.
0 = Z, because the word “zero” begins with “z” 1 = T, because the numeral “1” and the letter “T” are both written with a single downstroke 2 = N, because if you rotate the letter “N” clockwise ninety degrees, it resembles the numeral “2”) 3 = M, because if you rotate the letter “M” clockwise ninety degrees, it resembles the numeral “3”) 4 = R, because the numeral “4” looks like a backwards letter “R” (and the word “four” also ends in the letter “R”) 5 = L, since “L” is the Roman numeral for “50” 6 = G, since the numeral “6” and the letter “G” resemble each other 7 = K, because if you rotate the letter “K” clockwise, it resembles the numeral “7” mirroring itself 8 = B, since the numeral “8” and the letter “B” resemble each other 9 = P, since the letter “P” looks like a mirror image of the numeral “9”
You are trying to memorize the date “1776,” the year the Declaration of Independence was signed. You form the string of letters “TKKG” using the previous step. You develop the phrase “That Kooky King George,” where the first letter of each word in the phrase corresponds to the string of letters “TKKG” This phrase will help you remember the date because it uses the string of letters associated with “1776,” and because the Declaration of Independence was written to declare the independence of the American colonies from Great Britain, which was ruled at the time by King George III.
Reduce distractions; try to study in a quiet, stress-free environment. Intentionally focus your eyes on a written date that you are trying to memorize. “Trace” the date with your eyes. When you come across a date you need to learn, take a moment and carefully write it out, thinking “I need to remember this” as you do. Visualize yourself writing the number any time you think of it. For instance, imagine yourself writing the date on a chalkboard in your mind.
If you need to learn a set of dates for an exam or other purpose, go over them as frequently as you can, spending at least a few minutes each day reviewing the information.
Using a set of cards (or an electronic flash card program), write each date you need to memorize on one side of a card, and the significance of that date on the other side. Quiz yourself by shuffling the cards, looking at the date on each one, and seeing if you can remember the significance of it. You can also reverse the cards and look at the “significance” side, and see if you can recall the date associated with it. As you go through the cards each session, take out the ones that you remember well, and repeat the ones you cannot, until you can remember all of the dates. Practice using the flashcards frequently, but work in small bursts of just a few minutes at a time. If you try to memorize too much at one time, the information won’t really stick.
