list($day, $month, $year) = split('/', $date);
echo date('l, F jS ',  mktime(0, 0, 0, $month, $day, $year));

Frequently I like to make data more user friendly, so while I make it easy for them to add a date as a shorthand format (mm/dd/yyyy) I like to return it as something easier to digest (Day of Month in Year, etc). This is the simplest way to do that I've found

Convert Shorthand Date to Long Form

form, date

PHP