Convert List of Dates Into Days Since a Certain Date

Question

I have a list of dates in the form YYYY-MM-DD, where each element is not surrounded by quotations. How do I use Mathematica to convert that list of dates into a list of the number of days since a specific date? Here's an example:

Let's say I have the following list of dates

l={1997-05-16, 1997-05-19, 1997-05-20, 1997-05-21, 1997-05-22}

and I want a list of days since 1997-05-16 for each element in l. So, I would want the output

{0, 3, 4, 5, 6}

I know the function DateDifference exists, but it only takes a maximum of two elements and doesn't accept lists; plus, the values must be of the form {YYYY, MM, DD} or strings like "1997-05-19" (must have quotations).

EDIT:
Regarding the date format, these dates are coming from an imported CSV file. I tried to look for a way to make all the elements strings, i.e. insert quotations around each element in the list, but I could not find a way to do that. Is there a way to do that? I have Mathematica v9.0.1

EDIT 2:
Here is the CSV data on pastebin: https://pastebin.com/BRqwfGPi

Additionally, here is how I'm importing the date data:

datedata = 
  Import["CSV Data", {"Data", All, 1}];(* Imports dates from first column in CSV *)
datedata1 = Delete[datedata, 1];(* Deletes header element from list *)

Note that I replaced the actual path to the file as "CSV Data" in Import.

Answer 1

Here's how to do it, starting from the CSV file:

dates = Rest[Import["https://pastebin.com/raw/BRqwfGPi", {"Data", All, 1}]];

Table[QuantityMagnitude[DateDifference["1997-05-16", date, "Days"]], {date, dates}]
// Short
   {0, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 11, 12, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 31, 32, 33,
    34, 35, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 45, <<5091>>, 7441, 7444, 7445, 7446, 7447, 7448, 7451,
    7452, 7453, 7454, 7455, 7458, 7459, 7460, 7461, 7462, 7465, 7466, 7467, 7468, 7469,
    7472, 7473, 7474, 7475, 7476, 7479, 7480, 7481, 7482, 7483}

Answer 2

dlF = Function[{x}, AbsoluteTime @ ToString @ Unevaluated @ x, {HoldFirst, Listable}];
dl = dlF @ {1997-05-16, 1997-05-19, 1997-05-20, 1997-05-21, 1997-05-22};

QuantityMagnitude @ DateDifference[First @ dl, #]& /@ dl

{0., 3., 4., 5., 6.}