Today in Soap Opera History (May 7)

1968: Dark Shadows' Profession Stokes filled Julia in on the
Dream Curse. 1987: ATWT's Craig and Sierra enjoyed their new
baby. 1987: Knots Landing's Peter Hollister was murdered.
1992: Another World's Carl shocked Bay City with his return.

"The whole past is the procession of the present."
- Thomas Carlyle

"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...

1964: On Another World, Liz (Audra Lindley) clashed with her daughter, Susan (Roni Dengel), over Susan moving out.

1968: On Dark Shadows, Professor Stokes (Thayer David) and Julia (Grayson Hall) talked about the Dream Curse. He told her that the person who was object of the curse would die at the end of the dream.



1975: Adrienne LaRussa debuted as Brooke Hamilton in Days of our Lives.

1980: On The Edge of Night, "Kirk Michaels" aka Draper Scott (Tony Craig) decided he wanted to return to Monticello.



1981: On General Hospital, Port Charles was abuzz as the art auction began.



1984: On Guiding Light, Alexandra Spaulding (Beverlee McKinsey) told Lujack (Vincent Irizarry) that he was her son.



1987: On As the World Turns, Craig (Scott Bryce) and Sierra (Finn Carter) celebrated baby Bryant's birth.



1987: On Knots Landing, Abby (Donna Mills) discovered Olivia standing over Peter Hollister's (Hunt Block) dead body and thought her daughter had killed him. Olivia thought her mother killed Peter when she came out of the bathroom wiping her hands.



1992: On Another World, the residents of Bay City were stunned when Carl Hutchins (Charles Kating) returned to town after his conviction was overturned.



2002: ABC pulled the One Life to Live-inspired Todd Manning rag doll from its online store after being criticized for creating and releasing a doll based on a character who was a rapist. The Todd doll cost $19.95 and was described like this: "Todd is an all-cloth doll with brown felt hair and blue eyes. He is 20 inches standing. He wears a blue shirt and black pants."

2008: Brianne Moncrief debuted on All My Children as Colby Chandler.

2008: Actress Lydia Bruce, who was best known for playing Maggie Powers on NBC daytime drama The Doctors, died at age 77.

2013: On Days of our Lives, Jennifer (Melissa Reeves was surprised to see her son, J.J. Deveraux (Casey Moss) in Salem.



Thanks to Enrique for sending in the item above.

Celebrating a birthday today are:
Marco St. John (ex-Paul, As the World Turns; ex-Joey, Search for Tomorrow; ex-Erica's Physician, All My Children) - 75
Robin Strasser (ex-Dorian, One Life to Live; ex-Rachel, Another World; ex-Rachel, Somerset; ex-Hecuba, Passions; ex-Christina, All My Children; ex-Dianne, Knots Landing) - 69
Mariann Aalda (ex-Lena, Sunset Beach; ex-Grace, Guiding Light; ex-Didi, The Edge of Night) - 66
Peter Reckell (ex-Richard, Venice; ex-Bo, Days of our Lives; ex-Eric, As the World Turns; ex-Johnny, Knots Landing) - 59
Micheal E. Knight (ex-Tad, All My Children; ex-Tad, One Life to Live) - 55
Traci Lords (Val, EastSiders; ex-Rikki, Melrose Place) - 46
Justin Melvey (ex-Colin, Days of our LivesDays of our Lives; ex-Harry, Home and Away) - 45

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].