diff --git a/activesupport/CHANGELOG b/activesupport/CHANGELOG
index 5eb5cf1637..634294f9f8 100644
--- a/activesupport/CHANGELOG
+++ b/activesupport/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 *SVN*
 
+* Readable Date and DateTime#inspect.  #8570 [Geoff Buesing]
+
 * Added proper handling of arrays #8537 [hasmanyjosh]
 
   Before:
diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/date/conversions.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/date/conversions.rb
index 25745b0f8b..6e864aee5e 100644
--- a/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/date/conversions.rb
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/date/conversions.rb
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ module ActiveSupport #:nodoc:
         def self.included(klass) #:nodoc:
           klass.send(:alias_method, :to_default_s, :to_s)
           klass.send(:alias_method, :to_s, :to_formatted_s)
+          klass.send(:alias_method, :default_inspect, :inspect)
+          klass.send(:alias_method, :inspect, :readable_inspect)          
         end
 
         def to_formatted_s(format = :default)
@@ -27,6 +29,11 @@ module ActiveSupport #:nodoc:
             to_default_s
           end
         end
+        
+        # Overrides the default inspect method with a human readable one, e.g., "Mon, 21 Feb 2005"
+        def readable_inspect
+          strftime("%a, %d %b %Y")
+        end
 
         # To be able to keep Times, Dates and DateTimes interchangeable on conversions
         def to_date
diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/date_time/conversions.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/date_time/conversions.rb
index 1b78a72eea..ce0bfd8e0a 100644
--- a/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/date_time/conversions.rb
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/core_ext/date_time/conversions.rb
@@ -6,6 +6,8 @@ module ActiveSupport #:nodoc:
         def self.included(klass)
           klass.send(:alias_method, :to_datetime_default_s, :to_s)
           klass.send(:alias_method, :to_s, :to_formatted_s)
+          klass.send(:alias_method, :default_inspect, :inspect)
+          klass.send(:alias_method, :inspect, :readable_inspect)
         end
 
         def to_formatted_s(format = :default)
@@ -19,6 +21,11 @@ module ActiveSupport #:nodoc:
             to_datetime_default_s
           end
         end
+        
+        # Overrides the default inspect method with a human readable one, e.g., "Mon, 21 Feb 2005 14:30:00 +0000"
+        def readable_inspect
+          to_s(:rfc822)
+        end
 
         # Converts self to a Ruby Date object; time portion is discarded
         def to_date
diff --git a/activesupport/test/core_ext/date_ext_test.rb b/activesupport/test/core_ext/date_ext_test.rb
index 0d68d6b398..04100eec15 100644
--- a/activesupport/test/core_ext/date_ext_test.rb
+++ b/activesupport/test/core_ext/date_ext_test.rb
@@ -8,6 +8,11 @@ class DateExtCalculationsTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     assert_equal "2005-02-21",          Date.new(2005, 2, 21).to_s(:db)
     assert_equal "21 Feb 2005",         Date.new(2005, 2, 21).to_s(:rfc822)
   end
+  
+  def test_readable_inspect
+    assert_equal "Mon, 21 Feb 2005", Date.new(2005, 2, 21).readable_inspect
+    assert_equal Date.new(2005, 2, 21).readable_inspect, Date.new(2005, 2, 21).inspect
+  end
 
   def test_to_time
     assert_equal Time.local(2005, 2, 21), Date.new(2005, 2, 21).to_time
diff --git a/activesupport/test/core_ext/date_time_ext_test.rb b/activesupport/test/core_ext/date_time_ext_test.rb
index b5d80295f0..8c663ee431 100644
--- a/activesupport/test/core_ext/date_time_ext_test.rb
+++ b/activesupport/test/core_ext/date_time_ext_test.rb
@@ -12,6 +12,12 @@ class DateTimeExtCalculationsTest < Test::Unit::TestCase
     assert_equal "February 21st, 2005 14:30",         datetime.to_s(:long_ordinal)
   end
   
+  def test_readable_inspect
+    datetime = DateTime.new(2005, 2, 21, 14, 30, 0)
+    assert_equal "Mon, 21 Feb 2005 14:30:00 +0000", datetime.readable_inspect
+    assert_equal datetime.readable_inspect, datetime.inspect
+  end
+  
   def test_custom_date_format
     Time::DATE_FORMATS[:custom] = '%Y%m%d%H%M%S'
     assert_equal '20050221143000', DateTime.new(2005, 2, 21, 14, 30, 0).to_s(:custom)