How do I insert records with date fields?

I apologize if this question is too simple, but i've been having problems.

I have a table with a date field. in the ddl statement for the table I just created the field followed by date, i.e create table lot_info (starting_date date) <-- something like that.

And when I try to insert a record in to the table using the following command, it gives me an error
insert into lot_info values (9/9/1999); it gives me an error that says 'inconsistent datatypes' and points to the beginning of 1999.

when I try
insert into lot_info values ('9/9/1999'); it gives me an error that says 'not a valid month' and points to the month value.

i've been playing with this for a while now and i'm totally confused. so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

thanks
ted Received on Sun Apr 25 1999 - 02:31:53 CDT