How do I make OS X display the date in the menu bar?

Question

I'd like to have today's date displayed in the menu bar alongside the day-of-the-week and the time (i.e. Mon, Dec 31, 9:59 PM). Is there a way to do this? I'm on OS X 10.5.

EDIT: I found one suggestion, but couldn't make it work...

Answer 1

You can use MagiCal, or do a little configuration it in System Preferences.

• In System Preferences, open International and go to the Formats tab.
• Next to Dates, click the Customize button. Arrange your date in the format you want to appear on your menubar. Use the down arrows on each element to choose between formats (January, Jan, 01, 1, etc.):

• Now, select the entire date format and copy it to your clipboard (Cmd+A, Cmd+C). Hit OK.
• Hit the Customize button next to Times. Choose the "Medium" format.
• Paste the date format on your clipboard next to the time format, and hit OK. You're done!

From LifeHacker

Answer 2

I'm not sure when this was introduced, so maybe your 10.5 doesn't show this. But my Snow Leopard simply has an option for that: System Preferences, System, Date & Time, tabsheet Clock, Date options: show date.

In case you never noticed: clicking the clock will give you more details. If you have iCal in your Dock then its icon will always show the current^† date:

^{† Well, sometimes it's a bit off when iCal is not running. Running killall Dock in Terminal fixes that.}