On 8/30/06, Anthony wikilegal@inbox.org wrote:
Of course the fact that it's not useful information combined with the fact that it's almost never an easily verified fact is an equally good reason.
It's extremely useful information for the purpose of disambiguating. How do you know that semi-notable Jim Smith who lives in Sydney, born 1957 is or isn't Jim Smith (born Australia 1957, lives in New York)? Knowing their birthdates helps a huge amount.
Also, you don't need a birth certificate to source it. Any published source is a pretty good start.
Steve