The "Date Taken" value, also known as "Date Time Original" is one of the most important dates associated with a photo file.
For digital photos, the "Date Taken" value represents the date the photo was original captured.
For example, my nephew Billy turned five on July 15, 2016, we took a photo of Billy with his birthday cake, this photo file carries the date taken value of "July 15, 2016".
When viewed on your computer, the date taken value will usually be shown as a full timestamp with a date and a time value, such as July 15, 2016 at 11:45:23 AM.