On October 1, 1989, the Registered Partnernship Act went into effect in Denmark. It was the first law in the world that allowed civil unions between homosexual couples. While other nations have since fully legalized full gay marriage through the courts or legislations, Denmark is still trying to pass a fully gender-neutral marriage law.
Read a report on the world's first civil unions from the New York Times.

On October 1, 1924, William Rehnquist, late Chief Justice of the United States, was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Listen to remarks by President Ronald Reagan at the swearing-in ceremony for Chief Justice Rehnquist (joined by new Associate Justice Antonin Scalia) in 1986 (via the History Channel).