diff --git a/source/de/anomic/data/blogBoard.java b/source/de/anomic/data/blogBoard.java
index f2168d6a7..326852bd6 100644
--- a/source/de/anomic/data/blogBoard.java
+++ b/source/de/anomic/data/blogBoard.java
@@ -174,6 +174,7 @@ public class blogBoard {
 	public Date date() {
 	    try {
 		String c = (String) record.get("date");
+		if(c == null) return new Date();
 		return SimpleFormatter.parse(c);
 	    } catch (ParseException e) {
 		return new Date();
diff --git a/source/de/anomic/data/wikiBoard.java b/source/de/anomic/data/wikiBoard.java
index cae4ce3b4..8712b1a61 100644
--- a/source/de/anomic/data/wikiBoard.java
+++ b/source/de/anomic/data/wikiBoard.java
@@ -197,6 +197,7 @@ public class wikiBoard {
 	public Date date() {
 	    try {
 		String c = (String) record.get("date");
+		if(c == null) return new Date();
 		return SimpleFormatter.parse(c);
 	    } catch (ParseException e) {
 		return new Date();