@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
 import java.lang.reflect.Method;
 import java.lang.reflect.Modifier;
 import java.util.Collection;
+import java.util.Date;
 import java.util.Enumeration;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 import java.util.Iterator;
@@ -581,6 +582,24 @@ public JSONObject getJSONObject(String key) throws JSONException {
                 + "] is not a JSONObject.");
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Get the Date value associated with a key.
+     *
+     * @param key
+     *            A key string.
+     * @return A JSONObject which is the value.
+     * @throws JSONException
+     *             if the key is not found or if the value is not a JSONObject.
+     */
+    public Date getDate(String key) throws JSONException {
+        Object object = this.get(key);
+        if (object instanceof Date) {
+            return (Date) object;
+        }
+        throw new JSONException("JSONObject[" + quote(key)
+                + "] is not a Date.");
+    }
+
     /**
      * Get the long value associated with a key.
      *
 
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 import java.io.InputStreamReader;
 import java.io.Reader;
 import java.io.StringReader;
+import java.util.GregorianCalendar;
 
 /*
 Copyright (c) 2002 JSON.org
@@ -358,7 +359,7 @@ public Object nextValue() throws JSONException {
         switch (c) {
             case '"':
             case '\'':
-                return this.nextString(c);
+                return this.checkDates(this.nextString(c));
             case '{':
                 this.back();
                 return new JSONObject(this);
@@ -390,6 +391,34 @@ public Object nextValue() throws JSONException {
         return JSONObject.stringToValue(string);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Checks a string for dates.
+     *
+     * @param s string to check
+     * @return passed through string or a Date object
+     */
+    private Object checkDates(String s) {
+        if (s.length() == 10 || s.length() == 20) {
+            if (s.charAt(4) == '-' && s.charAt(7) == '-') {
+                int year = Integer.valueOf(s.substring(0, 4));
+                int month = Integer.valueOf(s.substring(5, 7));
+                int day = Integer.valueOf(s.substring(8, 10));
+
+                if (s.length() == 20 && s.charAt(10) == 'T' && s.charAt(13) == ':' && s.charAt(16) == ':' && s.charAt(19) == 'Z') {
+                    int hour = Integer.valueOf(s.substring(11, 13));
+                    int mins = Integer.valueOf(s.substring(14, 16));
+                    int secs = Integer.valueOf(s.substring(17, 19));
+
+                    return new GregorianCalendar(year, month, day, hour, mins, secs).getTime();
+                }
+
+                return new GregorianCalendar(year, month, day).getTime();
+            }
+        }
+
+        return s;
+    }
+
 
     /**
      * Skip characters until the next character is the requested character.