diff --git a/src/one/nio/serial/DateSerializer.java b/src/one/nio/serial/DateSerializer.java
index 7ab04b9b..b8927e49 100755
--- a/src/one/nio/serial/DateSerializer.java
+++ b/src/one/nio/serial/DateSerializer.java
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 
 package one.nio.serial;
 
+import one.nio.util.DateParser;
+
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.Date;
 
@@ -54,7 +56,24 @@ public void toJson(Date obj, StringBuilder builder) {
 
     @Override
     public Date fromJson(JsonReader in) throws IOException {
-        return new Date(in.readLong());
+        String numberOrParsableText = in.readString();
+        numberOrParsableText = numberOrParsableText.trim();
+        if (numberOrParsableText.length() == 0) {
+            return null;
+        }
+        char ch0 = numberOrParsableText.charAt(0);
+        boolean isNumber = ch0 == '-' || (ch0 >= '0' && ch0 <= '9');
+        for (int i = 1; i < numberOrParsableText.length() && isNumber; i++) {
+            char ch1 = numberOrParsableText.charAt(i);
+            if (ch1 < '0' || ch1 > '9') {
+                isNumber = false;
+            }
+        }
+        if (isNumber) {
+            return new Date(Long.parseLong(numberOrParsableText));
+        } else {
+            return new Date(DateParser.parse(numberOrParsableText));
+        }
     }
 
     @Override
diff --git a/src/one/nio/util/DateParser.java b/src/one/nio/util/DateParser.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ac3cfbd8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/one/nio/util/DateParser.java
@@ -0,0 +1,201 @@
+package one.nio.util;
+
+import java.time.ZoneOffset;
+import java.time.ZonedDateTime;
+
+/**
+ * Parser for subset of rfc2616 (http) and subset of ISO 1806 date formats.
+ */
+public class DateParser {
+
+    public static long parse(String input) {
+        if (input == null) {
+            throw new NullPointerException("Cannot provide null input to date parser.");
+        }
+        // simple detection for rfc2616
+        if (input.endsWith("GMT")) {
+            return parseRfc2616(input);
+        }
+        return parseIso1806(input);
+    }
+
+    private static long parseIso1806(String input) {
+        // expecting format
+        // DDDD-DD-DD'T'DD:DD:DD[.D*]
+        // DDDD-DD-DD'T'DD:DD:DD[.D*]Z
+        // DDDD-DD-DD'T'DD:DD:DD[.D*]+DD:DD
+        // DDDD-DD-DD'T'DD:DD:DD[.D*]-DD:DD
+        // DDDD-DD-DD'T'DD:DD:DD[.D*]+DDDD
+        // DDDD-DD-DD'T'DD:DD:DD[.D*]-DDDD
+
+        if (input.charAt(10) != 'T') {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Expecting T in position 10.");
+        }
+
+        if (input.charAt(4) != '-' && input.charAt(7) != '-') {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Expecting - at position 4 and 7.");
+        }
+
+        if (input.charAt(13) != ':' && input.charAt(16) != ':') {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Expecting : at position 13 and 16.");
+        }
+
+        int year = parseNumber4(input, 0);
+        int month = parseNumber2(input, 5);
+        int day = parseNumber2(input, 8);
+
+        int hour = parseNumber2(input, 11);
+        int minute = parseNumber2(input, 14);
+        int second = parseNumber2(input, 17);
+
+        int extraPrecisionDigits = 0;
+        int nanoseconds = 0;
+        if (input.length() >= 20) {
+            if (input.charAt(19) == '.') {
+                for (int i = 20; i < input.length(); i++) {
+                    final char ch = input.charAt(i);
+                    if (ch >= '0' && ch <= '9') {
+                        extraPrecisionDigits++;
+                    } else {
+                        break;
+                    }
+                }
+                if (extraPrecisionDigits > 9) {
+                    throw new IllegalArgumentException("Cannot parse more than 9 digits for subsecond time.");
+                }
+
+                int multiplier = 100_000_000;
+                for (int i = 20; i < 20 + extraPrecisionDigits; i++) {
+                    final char ch = input.charAt(i);
+                    if (ch >= '0' && ch <= '9') {
+                        nanoseconds += (ch - 48) * multiplier;
+                        multiplier /= 10;
+                    }
+                }
+                extraPrecisionDigits++; // incremented as used for offset in charAt next
+            }
+            int candidateForTimeZoneOffset = 19 + extraPrecisionDigits;
+            if (candidateForTimeZoneOffset < input.length()) {
+                // must have time zone
+                char chTz = input.charAt(candidateForTimeZoneOffset);
+                if (chTz == '+' || chTz == '-') {
+                    // expecting format +DD:DD or -DD:DD or +DDDD -DDDD
+                    int hours = parseNumber2(input, candidateForTimeZoneOffset + 1);
+
+                    int minutes;
+                    if (input.charAt(candidateForTimeZoneOffset + 3) == ':') {
+                        minutes = parseNumber2(input, candidateForTimeZoneOffset + 4);
+                    } else {
+                        minutes = parseNumber2(input, candidateForTimeZoneOffset + 3);
+                    }
+
+                    ZoneOffset zoneOffset;
+                    if (chTz == '-') {
+                        zoneOffset = ZoneOffset.ofTotalSeconds(-hours * 60 * 60 - minutes * 60);
+                    } else {
+                        zoneOffset = ZoneOffset.ofTotalSeconds(hours * 60 * 60 + minutes * 60);
+                    }
+                    return ZonedDateTime.of(year, month, day, hour, minute, second, nanoseconds, zoneOffset).toInstant().toEpochMilli();
+                } else if (chTz != 'Z') {
+                    throw new IllegalArgumentException("Failed to parse timezone info.");
+                }
+            }
+        }
+        return ZonedDateTime.of(year, month, day, hour, minute, second, nanoseconds, ZoneOffset.UTC).toInstant().toEpochMilli();
+    }
+
+    private static long parseRfc2616(String input) {
+        // expecting format
+        // Sun, 06 Nov 1994 08:49:37 GMT
+        // CCC, DD CCC DDDD DD:DD:DD GMT
+
+        if (input.charAt(3) != ',' || input.charAt(4) != ' ' || input.charAt(7) != ' ' || input.charAt(11) != ' '
+                || input.charAt(16) != ' ' || input.charAt(25) != ' ') {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid or unsupported rfc2616 date expecting format 'CCC, DD CCC DDDD DD:DD:DD GMT'.");
+        }
+
+        int day = parseNumber2(input, 5);
+
+        char chM1 = input.charAt(8);
+        char chM2 = input.charAt(9);
+        char chM3 = input.charAt(10);
+
+        // Apr, Aug
+        // Feb,
+        // Jan, Jun, Jul
+        // Mar, May
+        // Nov
+        // Oct
+        // Sep
+        // Dec
+
+        int month = -1;
+        if (chM1 == 'J' && chM2 == 'a') {
+            month = 1;
+        }
+        if (chM1 == 'F' && chM2 == 'e') {
+            month = 2;
+        }
+        if (chM1 == 'M' && chM2 == 'a' && chM3 == 'r') {
+            month = 3;
+        }
+        if (chM1 == 'A' && chM2 == 'p') {
+            month = 4;
+        }
+        if (chM1 == 'M' && chM2 == 'a' && chM3 == 'y') {
+            month = 5;
+        }
+        if (chM1 == 'J' && chM2 == 'u' && chM3 == 'n') {
+            month = 6;
+        }
+        if (chM1 == 'J' && chM2 == 'u' && chM3 == 'l') {
+            month = 7;
+        }
+        if (chM1 == 'A' && chM2 == 'u') {
+            month = 8;
+        }
+        if (chM1 == 'S' && chM2 == 'e') {
+            month = 9;
+        }
+        if (chM1 == 'O' && chM2 == 'c') {
+            month = 10;
+        }
+        if (chM1 == 'N' && chM2 == 'o') {
+            month = 11;
+        }
+        if (chM1 == 'D' && chM2 == 'e') {
+            month = 12;
+        }
+
+        if (month == -1) {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("Failed to parse month.");
+        }
+
+        int year = parseNumber4(input, 12);
+        int hour = parseNumber2(input, 17);
+        int minute = parseNumber2(input, 20);
+        int second = parseNumber2(input, 23);
+
+        return ZonedDateTime.of(year, month, day, hour, minute, second, 0, ZoneOffset.UTC).toInstant().toEpochMilli();
+    }
+
+    private static int parseNumber2(CharSequence offsetId, int pos) {
+        char ch1 = offsetId.charAt(pos);
+        char ch2 = offsetId.charAt(pos + 1);
+        if (ch1 < '0' || ch1 > '9' || ch2 < '0' || ch2 > '9') {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("non numeric characters found: " + offsetId);
+        }
+        return (ch1 - 48) * 10 + (ch2 - 48);
+    }
+
+    private static int parseNumber4(CharSequence offsetId, int pos) {
+        char ch1 = offsetId.charAt(pos);
+        char ch2 = offsetId.charAt(pos + 1);
+        char ch3 = offsetId.charAt(pos + 2);
+        char ch4 = offsetId.charAt(pos + 3);
+        if (ch1 < '0' || ch1 > '9' || ch2 < '0' || ch2 > '9' || ch3 > '9' || ch3 < '0' || ch4 > '9' || ch4 < '0') {
+            throw new IllegalArgumentException("non numeric characters found: " + offsetId);
+        }
+        return (ch1 - 48) * 1000 + (ch2 - 48) * 100 + (ch3 - 48) * 10 + (ch4 - 48);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/test/one/nio/serial/JsonTest.java b/test/one/nio/serial/JsonTest.java
index 4fed2247..a0ff8ad4 100755
--- a/test/one/nio/serial/JsonTest.java
+++ b/test/one/nio/serial/JsonTest.java
@@ -16,9 +16,13 @@
 
 package one.nio.serial;
 
+import org.junit.Assert;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.Serializable;
 import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.Date;
 import java.util.HashMap;
 
 public class JsonTest implements Serializable {
@@ -28,17 +32,31 @@ public class JsonTest implements Serializable {
         put("someKey", "some \"Value\"");
     }};
 
-    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
+    @Test
+    public void basicTest() throws IOException {
         Object obj = Arrays.asList("abc", 1, 2.0, true, new JsonTest());
-        System.out.println(Json.toJson(obj));
-
+        Assert.assertEquals("[\"abc\",1,2.0,true,{\"lng\":\"-9223372036854775808\",\"map\":{\"someKey\":\"some \\\"Value\\\"\"}}]", Json.toJson(obj));
         TestObject object = new TestObject();
         object.name = "Maxim";
-        System.out.println(Json.toJson(object));
+        Assert.assertEquals("{\"test_name\":\"Maxim\",\"date\":null}", Json.toJson(object));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testDateParsing() throws IOException, ClassNotFoundException {
+        Assert.assertEquals(0, Json.fromJson("{\"date\":\"0\"}", TestObject.class).date.getTime());
+        Assert.assertEquals(123456789, Json.fromJson("{\"date\":123456789}", TestObject.class).date.getTime());
+        Assert.assertEquals(-1678468117765L, Json.fromJson("{\"date\":\"-1678468117765\"}", TestObject.class).date.getTime());
+        Assert.assertEquals(1678468117765L, Json.fromJson("{\"date\":\"1678468117765\"}", TestObject.class).date.getTime());
+        Assert.assertEquals(1678561558935L, Json.fromJson("{\"date\":\"2023-03-11T19:05:58.935Z\"}", TestObject.class).date.getTime());
+        Assert.assertEquals(1678561558935L, Json.fromJson("{\"date\":\"2023-03-11T20:05:58.935+01:00\"}", TestObject.class).date.getTime());
+        Assert.assertEquals(1678561558000L, Json.fromJson("{\"date\":\"Sat, 11 Mar 2023 19:05:58 GMT\"}", TestObject.class).date.getTime());
+        Assert.assertNull(Json.fromJson("{\"date\":\"\"}", TestObject.class).date);
+        Assert.assertNull(Json.fromJson("{\"date\":\" \"}", TestObject.class).date);
     }
 
     public static class TestObject implements Serializable {
         @JsonName("test_name")
         public String name;
+        public Date date;
     }
 }
diff --git a/test/one/nio/util/DateParserTest.java b/test/one/nio/util/DateParserTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5368d08a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/one/nio/util/DateParserTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,69 @@
+package one.nio.util;
+
+import org.junit.Assert;
+import org.junit.Ignore;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+public class DateParserTest {
+
+    @Test
+    public void testParsing() {
+        // rfc2616
+        Assert.assertEquals(757846177000L, DateParser.parse("Thu, 06 Jan 1994 08:49:37 GMT"));
+        Assert.assertEquals(760524577000L, DateParser.parse("Sun, 06 Feb 1994 08:49:37 GMT"));
+        Assert.assertEquals(762943777000L, DateParser.parse("Sun, 06 Mar 1994 08:49:37 GMT"));
+        Assert.assertEquals(765622177000L, DateParser.parse("Wed, 06 Apr 1994 08:49:37 GMT"));
+        Assert.assertEquals(768214177000L, DateParser.parse("Fri, 06 May 1994 08:49:37 GMT"));
+        Assert.assertEquals(770892577000L, DateParser.parse("Mon, 06 Jun 1994 08:49:37 GMT"));
+        Assert.assertEquals(773484577000L, DateParser.parse("Wed, 06 Jul 1994 08:49:37 GMT"));
+        Assert.assertEquals(776162977000L, DateParser.parse("Sat, 06 Aug 1994 08:49:37 GMT"));
+        Assert.assertEquals(778841377000L, DateParser.parse("Tue, 06 Sep 1994 08:49:37 GMT"));
+        Assert.assertEquals(781433377000L, DateParser.parse("Thu, 06 Oct 1994 08:49:37 GMT"));
+        Assert.assertEquals(784111777000L, DateParser.parse("Sun, 06 Nov 1994 08:49:37 GMT"));
+        Assert.assertEquals(786703777000L, DateParser.parse("Sun, 06 Dec 1994 08:49:37 GMT"));
+
+        Assert.assertEquals(1677701552000L, DateParser.parse("Wed, 01 Mar 2023 20:12:32 GMT"));
+        Assert.assertEquals(1692785121000L, DateParser.parse("Wed, 23 Aug 2023 10:05:21 GMT"));
+
+        // subset of iso1806
+        Assert.assertEquals(1677701552000L, DateParser.parse("2023-03-01T20:12:32Z"));
+        Assert.assertEquals(1677701552000L, DateParser.parse("2023-03-01T21:12:32+01:00"));
+        Assert.assertEquals(1677699752000L, DateParser.parse("2023-03-01T21:12:32+01:30"));
+        Assert.assertEquals(1677710552000L, DateParser.parse("2023-03-01T21:12:32-01:30"));
+        Assert.assertEquals(1677701552000L, DateParser.parse("2023-03-01T21:12:32+0100"));
+        Assert.assertEquals(1677699752000L, DateParser.parse("2023-03-01T21:12:32+0130"));
+        Assert.assertEquals(1677710552000L, DateParser.parse("2023-03-01T21:12:32-0130"));
+
+        // also support without Z, for extra compatibility
+        Assert.assertEquals(1677701552000L, DateParser.parse("2023-03-01T20:12:32"));
+
+        // support millis
+        Assert.assertEquals(1692785121234L, DateParser.parse("2023-08-23T10:05:21.234"));
+        Assert.assertEquals(1692785121234L, DateParser.parse("2023-08-23T10:05:21.234Z"));
+        Assert.assertEquals(1692785121234L, DateParser.parse("2023-08-23T12:05:21.234+02:00"));
+
+        // decided to support micros and nanos as well, they just get trimmed, for extra compatibility
+        Assert.assertEquals(1692785121234L, DateParser.parse("2023-08-23T10:05:21.234567Z"));
+        Assert.assertEquals(1692785121234L, DateParser.parse("2023-08-23T12:05:21.234567890+02:00"));
+        Assert.assertEquals(1660816887967L, DateParser.parse("2022-08-18T12:01:27.967875+0200"));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    @Ignore
+    public void nonSupportedFormats() {
+        // part of rfc2616
+        // RFC 850, obsoleted by RFC 1036
+        Assert.assertNotEquals(784111777000L, DateParser.parse("Sunday, 06-Nov-94 08:49:37 GMT"));
+        // ANSI C's asctime() format
+        Assert.assertNotEquals(784111777000L, DateParser.parse("Sun Nov  6 08:49:37 1994"));
+
+        // other iso1806 and similar
+        Assert.assertNotEquals(1677701552000L, DateParser.parse("20230301T211232+01:00"));
+        Assert.assertNotEquals(1677701552000L, DateParser.parse("2023-03-01 20:12:32+00:00"));
+        Assert.assertNotEquals(1677701552000L, DateParser.parse("2023-03-01 21:12:32+01:00"));
+        Assert.assertNotEquals(1692785121234L, DateParser.parse("20230823T100521.234Z"));
+        Assert.assertNotEquals(1692785121234L, DateParser.parse("20230823T120521.234+02:00"));
+        Assert.assertNotEquals(1692785121234L, DateParser.parse("2023-08-23 10:05:21.234+00:00"));
+        Assert.assertNotEquals(1692785121234L, DateParser.parse("2023-08-23 12:05:21.234+02:00"));
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file