how can I compare dates in array to find the earliest one?

Question

I have a variable called dateArray with dates in it for example

[\"09/09/2009\", \"16/07/2010\", \"29/01/2001\"]

and I want to find the earlies

Answer 1

   var dateArray = ["09/09/1980","09/09/2009", "16/07/2010", "29/01/1990"];
   var first = dateArray[0].split("/").reverse().join("-");
   var arrayLength = dateArray.length;
   for(var i=1; i< arrayLength; i++){
   second = dateArray[i].split("/").reverse().join("-");
     if (first > second){
        first = second;
     }
   }
alert(first);