function min_date(all_dates) { var min_dt = all_dates[0], min_dtObj = new Date(all_dates[0]); all_dates.forEach(function(dt, index) { if ( new Date( dt ) < min_dtObj) { min_dt = dt; min_dtObj = new Date(dt); } }); return min_dt; } console.log(min_date(['2015/02/01', '2015/02/02', '2015/01/03']));