Today in Soap Opera History (January 11)

1968: Angelique's bat continued to spy on Dark Shdows' Barnabas.
1974: Y&R's Chris and Snapper were married.
1980: ATWT's Barbara remembered a past mystery man.
2005: GH's Jason and Sam made love for the first time.

"A page of history is worth a pound of logic."
― Oliver Wendell Holmes

"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...

1966: On Peyton Place, Betty (Barbara Parkins) testified in court. After the hearing, Julie worried Elliot would print articles in the newspaper which portrayed her in a negative way, but Constance (Dorothy Malone, who returned to the show after a medical leave) assured her that would not happen.



1968: On Dark Shadows, Peter Bradford (Roger Davis) agreed to represent Victoria (Alexandra Moltke) at her trial for witchcraft. Barnabas (Jonathan Frid) begged Josette to leave town as Angelique's bat spied on them.



1974: On The Young and the Restless, Chris Brooks (Trish Stewart) married Snapper Foster (William Gray Espy).



Thanks to Scott for sending in the item above.

1980: On As the World Turns, Barbara (Colleen Zenk) had a flashback to a mysterious man from her past. Only the man's hand was shown. This was the first "appearance" of Anthony Herrera as James Stenbeck. Zenk and Herrera had already shot scenes together on location in the Dominican Republic, recreated flashbacks from the time Barbara and James were in love two years earlier. Their location scenes were shot at the same time as the infamous Roger Thorpe "death" in April 1980.



1984: On One Life to Live, Asa (Phil Carey) accused Bo (Robert S. Woods) of having Rafe spy on him.



1985: On Guiding Light, Lujack (Vincent Irizarry) became angry when he thought Beth (Judi Evans) was still blind after the bandages were removed from her eyes. He was overjoyed when she revealed that she could see again.



Thanks to Jennifer for sending in the item above.

1988: On Santa Barbara, Jake Morton (Rick Edwards) proposed to Hayley Benson (Stacy Edwards). Later, Cain hosted a benefit party at the Lair, where Hayley was hit by Carmen's drunk date. Hayley died in Jake's arms. The clip below also includes Hayley's funeral.



1989: The character of Sally Spectra, played by the late Darlene Conley, first appeared on The Bold and the Beautiful.

1989: On Ryan's Hope, Cali Timmons returned as Maggie, who was surprised to hear Roger (Ron Hale) and Delia (Ilene Kristen) were married.



1993: On Guiding Light, Maureen Bauer (Ellen Parker) crashed her car following a confrontation with her husband, Ed (Peter Simon), over his affair with Lillian Raines (Tina Sloan). Ann Hamilton debuted as Mindy Lewis in this episode.



1993: WWF Monday Night Raw debuted on USA Network.

2005: On General Hospital, Jason (Steve Burton) and Sam (Kelly Monaco) made love for the first time.



2006: Kimberlin Brown last aired as Sheila Carter on The Young and the Restless. In the episode, Lauren was shocked when the police brought out Sheila, and screamed that it wasn't really her, since her ankle wasn't bandaged and she didn't have a limp. Sheila said the same thing, that she only went after Scott because she wanted to destroy the one thing that meant anything to Lauren. The real Sheila was in a plastic surgeons office and held up a photograph. She told the surgeon that she wanted to look like the person in the photo.



2007: On The Young and the Restless, Ashley (Eileen Davidson) and Abby (Darcy Rose Byrnes) left Genoa City to Hong Kong, where Ashley accepted a position at House of Kim.

Thanks to Enrique for sending in the item above.

2013: On the 12,000th episode of Days of our Lives, Chad (Casey Jon Deidrick) interrupted Gabi (Camilla Banus) and Nick's (Blake Berris) wedding.



Celebrating a birthday today are:
Stan Ivar (ex-Daniel, Days of our Lives; ex-David/Jack, General Hospital) - 72
Eileen Dietz (ex-Sarah, General Hospital; ex-Linette, Guiding Light) - 70
Katherine Glass (ex-Alison, Return to Peyton Place; ex-Jenny, One Life to Live; ex-Kim, The Best of Everything; ex-M.J., The Doctors) - 68
Sharon Brown (ex-Daisy, Love of Life; ex-Chantel, Generations) - 53
Kyle Richards (ex-Casey, Days of our Lives) - 46
Amanda Peet (ex-Layle, One Life to Live) - 43
Deanna Wright (ex-Kay, Passions) - 35
Kristolyn Lloyd (ex-Dayzee, The Bold and the Beautiful) - 30

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you would like to submit a soap history entry for this date or a future date, email [email protected].