diff --git a/History.txt b/History.txt
index 99d7da604b9..bbc08d74d80 100644
--- a/History.txt
+++ b/History.txt
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
     * Use English library to avoid hoops (#292)
     * Add Posterous importer (#254)
     * Fixes for Wordpress importer (#274, #252, #271)
+    * Better error message for invalid post date (#291)
+    * Print formatted fatal exceptions to stdout on build failure
   * Bug Fixes
     * Secure additional path exploits
 
diff --git a/bin/jekyll b/bin/jekyll
index 4a2f7a32365..c025a62341a 100755
--- a/bin/jekyll
+++ b/bin/jekyll
@@ -242,7 +242,11 @@ else
   puts "Building site: #{source} -> #{destination}"
   begin
     site.process
-  rescue Jekyll::FatalException
+  rescue Jekyll::FatalException => e
+    puts
+    puts "ERROR: YOUR SITE COULD NOT BE BUILT:"
+    puts "------------------------------------"
+    puts e.message
     exit(1)
   end
   puts "Successfully generated site: #{source} -> #{destination}"
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/post.rb b/lib/jekyll/post.rb
index 8c866fe4d1f..5502994ceac 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/post.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/post.rb
@@ -78,6 +78,8 @@ def process(name)
       self.date = Time.parse(date)
       self.slug = slug
       self.ext = ext
+    rescue ArgumentError
+      raise FatalException.new("Post #{name} does not have a valid date.")
     end
 
     # The generated directory into which the post will be placed
diff --git a/test/test_post.rb b/test/test_post.rb
index b93c587368f..c4a5db127c6 100644
--- a/test/test_post.rb
+++ b/test/test_post.rb
@@ -52,6 +52,12 @@ def do_render(post)
         assert_equal "/2008/09/09/foo-bar.html", @post.url
       end
 
+      should "raise a good error on invalid post date" do
+        assert_raise Jekyll::FatalException do
+          @post.process("2009-27-03-foo-bar.textile")
+        end
+      end
+
       should "CGI escape urls" do
         @post.categories = []
         @post.process("2009-03-12-hash-#1.markdown")