This Day in History: April 1, 2001

A law that made marriage equality a reality in the Netherlands goes into effect.

Three of the four couples married in ceremonies officiated by the mayor of Amsterdam after the Netherlands legalized marriage equality. (Photo courtesy of AP Photos/Peter Dejong)

Shortly after midnight on April 1, 2001, the mayor of Amsterdam officiated the weddings of four same-sex couples. The law that made the unions legal had just gone into effect. Passage of the aforementioned law the year before made The Netherlands the first country in the world to grant marriage equality to its citizens.