$ eval $(date +"day=%d; month=%m; year=%y")
It's quite easy to capture the output of a command and assign it in a shell's variable:
day=$(date +%d)
month=$(date +%m)
But, what if we want to perform the same task with just one program invocation? Here comes the power of eval! date(1) outputs a string like "day=29; month=07; year=11" (notice the semicolons I added on purpose at date's custom output) which is a legal shell line. This like is then parsed and executed by the shell once again with the help of eval. Just setting 3 variables!
Inspired by LinuxJournal's column "Dave Taylor's Work the Shell".
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