Today in Soap Opera History (March 13)

1984: Days of our Lives' Stefano was fooled by Roman's latest plan.
1984: General Hospital's Mike was upset about Lesley's death.
1992: Days' (new) Bo Brady unmasked himself to Carly.
2008: As the World Turns' Carly shot and killed Kit.

"The present contains nothing more than the past, and what is found in the effect is already in the cause."
― Henri Louis Bergson

"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...

1967: CBS aired the first color broadcast of The Guiding Light. The show still ran for 15 minutes a day at that time.

1972: Australian soap Number 96 premiered. The show had a successful run, including spawning a feature film, and aired its final episode on August 11, 1977.



1975: On Another World, a distraught Liz (Irene Dailey) pinned Rachel against the wall and warned her to stay away from Mac, but Richard Gavin and Russ restrained her. Roy Poole played Richard. He returned to AW in the early '80s as Mayor Stein, the candidate Mac ran against. Mac bowed out of the mayoral race after Mayor Stein published photos of Sandy and Blaine.

1980: On The Edge of Night, Deborah produced Margo's stolen wig and accused Nola of the murder: "Nola, you wore this wig the night you murdered Margo Dorn!"



1984: On Days of our Lives, Roman and Marlena argued about her helping out with the investigation. Later, Roman, Bo (Peter Reckell) and Eugene (John de Lancie) fooled Stefano (Joseph Mascolor) into believing Roman was ready to give up after they realized the house was bugged.

1984: On General Hospital, Mike (David Mendenhall) was devastated over Lesley's death, and asked Rick (Chris Robinson) if he could go to the funeral.



1986: On Another World, when Michael Hudson (Kale Browne) showed up to give Amanda Cory a riding lesson, Rachel Cory (Victoria Wydham) recognized him as "Michael Garrison." Dana Klaboe made her final appearance as Amanda Cory, ending a five-year run.



1992: On All My Children, Hayley Vaughan (Kelly Ripa) told her biological father, Adam Chandler (David Canary), he wasn't fit to speak the name of her real father, Harry Vaughan.



1992: On Days of our Lives, Bo Brady (now played by Robert Kelker-Kelly) unmasked himself to Carly (Crystal Chappell) at the masquerade party.



1994: Claire Bloom made her first appearance as Orlena Grimaldi on As the World Turns.

2008: On As the World Turns, after Kit (Lauretta Vaughn, now Lauretta Nkwocha) shot Jack (Michael West), Carly (Maura West) fatally shot Kit, who confessed to killing Sam on her deathbed.



Celebrating a birthday today are:

Joseph Mascolo

Joseph Mascolo (ex-Stefano, Days of our Lives; ex-Massimo, The Bold and the Beautiful; ex-Nicholas, General Hospital; ex-Carlo, Santa Barbara) - 87
Robert S. Woods (ex-Bo, One Life to Live; ex-Paul, Days of our Lives) - 68
Dana Delany (ex-Katherine, Desperate Housewives; ex-Hayley, As the World Turns; ex-Amy, Love of Life) - 60
Annabeth Gish (ex-Anne, Pretty Little Liars; ex-Elizabeth, The West Wing) - 44
Common (ex-Elam, Hell on Wheels) - 44
Molly Stanton (ex-Charity, Passions) - 36
Julie A. Smith (Producer/Writer, Fumbling Thru the Pieces)

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