Shouldn't strtotime() be able to return an accurate timestamp with a date with a format of MM-DD-YYYY ?

no, that's ambiguous.

OK, which format do you suggest for best results ?

YYYY-MM-DD Because that's an iso standard, should work anywhere.

I guess a split() will do the job then.
Use explode() for literal strings, split() uses regex, posix regex at that.

oh yeah, explode, that's what I meant