Sorry, but the above writeup has a couple flaws, and thanks to chromatic for setting me straight.
First, the $isdst scalar is a flag for daylight savings time, 1 for yes, 0 for no, and negative is "unknown."
Second, the year hasn't really had 1900 subtracted from it, it's really just the number of years since 1900.
Thanks again to my Dodecatonic friend, chromatic. (I was a music composition major, once upon a time.)

In reply to RE: RE: Getting the date of today as a number (was: Date question) by Simplicus
in thread Getting the date of today as a number (was: Date question) by Anonymous Monk

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