gistfile1.php

<?
/**
 * Give name to preg_match
 */

$haystack = '01 Jan 1970'; 
$pattern = '/(?<day>\d{1,2})\ (?<month>Jan|Feb)\ (?<year>19\d\d)/';
preg_match($pattern, $haystack, $matches);

print_r($matches);
// now there's $matches['day'], $matches['month'] ...