SELECT TO_TIMESTAMP(TO_CHAR(hire_date))AS "Character Date"
FROM employees

Character Date 
17-JUN-87 12.00.00.000000000 AM 
21-SEP-89 12.00.00.000000000 AM 


ALTER TABLE my_employees
ADD  retire_date TIMESTAMP WITH LOCAL TIME ZONE

INSERT INTO my_employees (employee_id, retire_date)
VALUES(500, TO_DATE ('February 25, 2003', 'Month dd, RRRR'))

SELECT retire_date AS Retired
FROM my_employees

RETIRED 
25-FEB-03 12.00.00.000000 AM