Formatting text from a MySQL DB

Hi~ I'm storing text in a MySQL database and then displaying it on a web page by calling it through PHP. The text needs to be able to be formatted with HTML code-- i.e. My MySQL entry might look like: This is my <B>Text.... I am testing my</b> text to see if <I> it works</i>. This is a test... test test test... test... Testing 1234 1234.... I want the bold and italic formatting to carry through to my web page... and I need to spacing to carry as well. I tried using the "pre" tag in HTML-- but then the HTML formatting doesn't work. How do I display the information from my database and keep the spacing and HTML formatting? Thanks, -Ben