One of the nice things about open source software is the abundance of manuals and help files. If you type PHP into Google, you get almost 10 BILLION hits! The official manual is http://www.php.net/docs.php
The best place to start on this web site is http://us2.php.net/manual/en/manual.php Follow the links on the left under getting started. Notice the search box at the top right. type in date to search under functions, and you will get a typical page that gives a description of the function, a complete list of parameters, and finally some examples. Following these examples, you should be able to display the date and time formatted as Tuesday, May 22, 2012 9:15AM.
Because there are so many links when you type in php in Google, it is important to refine your search. When you look for help in Google type php first, followed by two or three key words. Some of the links give good examples, some not so good, but you can usually find something that heads you in the right direction.
When testing the examples,
Debugging: Make sure that the example you are using is for the same version of PHP that you are using. You can find what version of PHP you are using with the statement echo 'Current PHP version: ' . phpversion(); for instance this page is using PHP Version 5.3.8. Also, there are some PHP examples that simply do not work, others require too much additional code to really understand what is going on.
echo vs. print: Some examples use echo, others use print to display output. It is not a good idea to mix the two on one page. It is best to pick one or the other and use it consistently.