All true dates are stored internally as a simple serial number, the number of
days that have elapsed since some arbitrary starting date. For the Windows
Excel date sytem, the starting date - day 0 - is Dec 31, 1899, so the number 1
= Jan 1, 1900, and today = 38176.
To verify this, you change the cell format to General: you see the actual cell
contents -- a number that bears no resemblance to a calendar date.
The only way to get a cell to display that number as a date is by formatting
it with a date format.
WRT the date serial number 9392, it represents the date Sep 17, 1925. If you
typed the number 9392, and the cell has been previously formatted as general,
you'll see 9392. If you have previously formatted the cell with a date format,
it will show 9/17/1925.
If you intended the number 9392 to mean Sep 3, 1992, it won't happen. You MUST
use the date separators, i.e. type 9/3/92 (or better, 9/3/1992). Excel scans
your entry, sees the separators, and runs a routine that parses what you typed
and translates, e.g., 7/10/2004 into the number 38176, then assigns a date
format. Preformatting as a date doesn't eliminate the need to use the
separators or some other format that Excel recognizes as a date.
