March 7 (the)

[Phaedrus]

Similarly, March the thirteenth is a shortened from of March, the thirteenth day.

As you say, over time, American usage has dropped the the, for economy's sake, despite it being grammatically required.

Thank you, Jutfrank. That's very sensible. It's interesting, I think, that the presence or absence of the comma hinges on the presence of absence of day.

The grammar of it seems, then, to be the grammar of filing. Compare:

The song is on Groovy, the sixth track. (I.e., it's on the sixth track of the CD called Groovy.) It doesn't matter that we can't say, It's on Groovy the sixth.

Incidentally, I do find the the in March the seventh, etc., to be elegant, and I've started to use it. But if I'm going to stick out, I want the backing of reason.

From the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA):

July the fourth: 8
July fourth: 194

One thing that the American construction allows for is adjectives, as in What did you do the previous July fourth?

Can British speakers say, What did you do the previous July the fourth?

 

[emsr2d2]

This side of the pond, we call it "July the fourth" or "the fourth of July".

 

[jutfrank]

I do find the the in March the seventh, etc., to be elegant, and I've started to use it. But if I'm going to stick out, I want the backing of reason.

Isn't sounding like a sophisticated Brit not good reason enough? ;-)

One thing that the American construction allows for is adjectives, as in What did you do the previous July fourth?

Can British speakers say, What did you do the previous July the fourth?

Yes, we can do that. But we're more likely to say the previous fourth of July.

 

[Rover_KE]

Can British speakers say, What did you do the previous July the fourth?

That would sound very odd to me if I heard anyone say it over here.

 

[Tarheel]

This side of the pond, we call it "July the fourth" or "the fourth of July".

Same here. And nobody ever forgets that it's my birthday. (Something else too, but that escapes me. ;-) )