Render some dates

dates.js

var dates = [...],
    width = ...,
    height = ...;

var xscale = d3.scale.linear().domain([0, dates.length]).range([0, width]);

var canvas = d3.select('#canvas')
    .append('svg:svg')
    .attr('width', width)
    .attr('height', height);

canvas.selectAll('ticks')
    .data(dates)
  .enter().append('svg:text')
    .attr('x', function(d, i) { return xscale(i); })
    .text(function(d) { return d; });