diff --git a/src/view.timeline.js b/src/view.timeline.js
index 40aa7563..81b02784 100644
--- a/src/view.timeline.js
+++ b/src/view.timeline.js
@@ -134,14 +134,14 @@ my.Timeline = Backbone.View.extend({
     if (!date) {
       return null;
     }
-    var out = date.trim();
+    var out = $.trim(date);
     out = out.replace(/(\d)th/g, '$1');
     out = out.replace(/(\d)st/g, '$1');
-    out = out.trim() ? moment(out) : null;
-    if (out.toDate() == 'Invalid Date') {
-      return null;
-    } else {
+    out = $.trim(out) ? moment(out) : null;
+    if (out && out.isValid()) {
       return out.toDate();
+    } else {
+      return null;
     }
   },
 
diff --git a/test/view.timeline.test.js b/test/view.timeline.test.js
index 0b6637d8..5e3bf148 100644
--- a/test/view.timeline.test.js
+++ b/test/view.timeline.test.js
@@ -19,13 +19,13 @@ test('extract dates and timelineJSON', function () {
         'headline': '',
         'date': [
           {
-            'startDate': new Date('2012-03-20'),
+            'startDate': moment('2012-03-20').toDate(),
             'endDate': null,
             'headline': '1',
             'text': '<div class="recline-record-summary"><div class="Date"><strong>Date</strong>: 2012-03-20</div><div class="title"><strong>title</strong>: 1</div></div>'
           },
           {
-            'startDate': new Date('2012-03-25'),
+            'startDate': moment('2012-03-25').toDate(),
             'endDate': null,
             'headline': '2',
             'text': '<div class="recline-record-summary"><div class="Date"><strong>Date</strong>: 2012-03-25</div><div class="title"><strong>title</strong>: 2</div></div>'