Using the date twice

I’d like to put the date both at the top of the entries for that day, but also in the body of the post. Preferably, right before the time stamp. Here’s what I tried:
Filed under: <?php the_category() ?> by <?php the_author() ?> on
<?php the_date('', '<h2>', '</h2>'); ?> @ <?php the_time() ?>
For some reason the date will not show up twice on the page. I even tried doing this:
<?php the_date('', '<h2>', '</h2>'); ?><?php the_date('', '<h2>', '</h2>'); ?>
And that didn’t work, either. Anyone have any ideas? Thanks in advance!