Jane Austen s Hi I happen to have Tony1 s talk page on my Watchlist left over from some ancient exchange so I noticed your query about removing the full dates of birth and death of Jane Austen Discouraging without banning month and day of birth or death is not consensus although it is the strong opinion of many editors disputed by many others at at a straw poll currently being conducted at Wikipedia talk Manual of Style dates and numbers Since Jane Austen s editors have apparently decided against having an Information Box which could display exact birthday and date of death I think the argument for keeping them quickly accessible in this particular lead is rather stronger And although I m more of a Dickensian than an Austenite myself I know several people in the San Francisco Bay Area who diligently celebrate Jane Austen s birthday with an annual ball So in my book her birthday would fall in the same class as that of Abraham Lincoln Kentucky February 12 1809 Washington D C April 15 1865