Format the date as used in MySQL?

I am trying to format the datestamp that is created in MySQL and it
doesn't seem to work.  For example, in MySQL, the datestamp is shown as
20000515101054 (yyyymmddhhmmss)  but when I use date( "F d, Y", $date )
where $date is what I have that entry saved as, I get January 13, 2038.
Is there a different command to handle these kind of dates or do I have
to format it some way?  BTW, I also wanted to include the time, but just
wanted to check it quickly, so I don't know how the time will show up.

--
Todd Eddy
[email protected]
http://www.vrillusions.com/