Date formatting
What countries use the numerical numbers for month/date/year? Such as 12/4/1998
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Hardly any, is the answer - see attached graphic. Nearly all the world would recognise the date in your question as 12 April 1998, which is to read it in a logical sequence from smallest element to largest: day, month, year.
This Guardian piece is a concise comment on why the more awkward style of month first was adopted in the US - and has no answer.
A WikiPedia entry here has a more subtle breakdown by countries, and an even more elaborate table can be seen here, but with no real change. Interestingly, in the Philippines both formats are common which has much to do with the presence of the American military for many decades after World War Two.
Map of countries that use the month-day-year date format only: