USING LINUX IN SQL

1) Select the oldest date from orders table.

mysql> select * from orders; +---------+----------+------------+----------+-------------+ | acctnum | ordernum | orderdate | storenum | salesrepnum | +---------+----------+------------+----------+-------------+ | 4552 | 3 | 2004-01-03 | 1 | 1 | | 3679 | 6 | 2004-01-05 | 1 | 1 | | 1234 | 7 | 2004-01-07 | 1 | 2 | | 5623 | 8 | 2004-01-09 | 1 | 2 | | 4552 | 9 | 2004-01-11 | 1 | 3 | | 3679 | 10 | 2004-01-13 | 1 | 3 | | 1234 | 11 | 2004-01-15 | 1 | 1 | | 5623 | 12 | 2004-01-17 | 1 | 2 | | 4552 | 13 | 2004-01-19 | 1 | 3 | | 3679 | 14 | 2004-01-21 | 1 | 3 | | 1234 | 15 | 2004-01-23 | 1 | 2 | | 5623 | 16 | 2004-01-25 | 1 | 1 | | 4552 | 17 | 2004-01-27 | 1 | NULL | +---------+----------+------------+----------+-------------+ 13 rows in set (0.00 sec)