Today in Soap Opera History (September 4)

1987: Cruz prepared for a date with Eden on SANTA BARBARA.
1992: GUIDING LIGHT's Alan-Michael switched out Eleni's birth
control pills. 2009: OLTL's Nora slapped Tea in court.
2009: GH's carnival began.

"That men do not learn very much from the lessons of history is the most important of all the lessons that history has to teach."
― Aldous Huxley

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1969: On DARK SHADOWS, Barnabas (Jonathan Frid) told Magda what would happen when he used the rods--his body would remain while his spirit traveled into the future. He told her to go to Collinwood and warn Quentin to leave.

1970: On ANOTHER WORLD, Pat and John's twins (Michael and Marianne Randolph) were born.

1980: On THE EDGE OF NIGHT, Raven (Sharon Gabet) told Draper (Tony Craig) that April and Logan fell madly in love while he was "dead".



1981: On ANOTHER WORLD, Jamie (Richard Bekins) took notice when Sandy (Christopher Rich) and Cecile (Nancy Frangione) arrived together at the suite. Vana Tribbey aired for the final time as Alice Matthews Frame.



1987: On SANTA BARBARA, Cruz (A Martinez) and Eden (Marcy Walker) nervously prepared for their date.



1992: On GUIDING LIGHT, Alan-Michael (Rick Hearst) swapped out Eleni's (Melina Kanakaredes) birth control pills with placebos.



1998: German teen soap opera SCHLOSS EINSTEIN premiered.

1998: On AS THE WORLD TURNS, David (Daniel Markel) used Julia, and a gun, to get to Lily (Martha Byrne).



2004: Actor Michael Louden, best known for playing Duke Kramer on AS THE WORLD TURNS, died at age 40.

2006: German soap opera ALLES WAS ZAHLT (All That Matters) premiered on RTL.

2006: On PASSIONS, after Fox (Mark Cameron Wystrach) was sucked into a black hole, he told Tabitha (Juliet Mills) it like a black tunnel you would see on the Sci Fi Channel.  PASSIONS repeats aired on the Sci Fi (now Syfy) Channel at the time.  Tabitha then told him stick with NBC.



2009: On ONE LIFE TO LIVE, Nora (Hillary B. Smith) slapped Tea (Florencia Lozano) in court.



2009: On GENERAL HOSPITAL, Molly dunked the hunks of Port Charles at the carnival.



Celebrating a birthday today are:
Mary Grace Canfield (ex-Lucille, GENERAL HOSPITAL) - 89
Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs (ex-Lucky, RITUALS) - 60
Peter Virgile (ex-Gary, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS) - 53
Damon Wayans (ex-SANTA BARBARA) - 53
John Preston (ex-Greg, GENERAL HOSPITAL) - 44
Carlos Ponce (Humberto, SANTA DIABLA; ex-Max, HOLLYWOOD HEIGHTS) - 41
Kai Owen (ex-Rhys, TORCHWOOD) - 38
Max Greenfield (ex-Nick, UGLY BETTY; ex-Michael, GREEK) - 33
Jennifer Metcalfe (Mercedes, HOLLYOAKS; ex-Jade, EMMERDALE) - 30
Collin O'Donnell (ex-Shawn Douglas, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) - 28
Trevor Gagnon (Freddy, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES) - 18

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you would like to submit a piece of soap opera history for this daily column, please email it to [email protected].