title: Convert VarChar to Timestamp
body: <p>I have 7 million rows of data within a MySQL table. One column of date-time data is in varchar format. </p>
  
  <p>The data looks like this: <code>'2012-08-25 07:00:19 UTC'</code></p>
  
  <p>I want to convert this to be read as a timestamp in MySQL. I tried to change it with this code:</p>
  
  <pre><code>UPDATE `work_data`
  SET `time_at` = str_to_date( `time_at`, '%Y-%m-%d $H:%i:%s'UTC) 
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>It gives me Error code 1583. </p>
  
  <p>Can anyone suggest an elegant way to convert this column of data with the table 'work data' to be timestamp instead of a varchar string? </p>