Today in Soap Opera History (March 7)

1980: Days' Tom & Alice celebrated their 50th anniversary.
1980: A train carrying Edge of Night's Draper derailed.
1983: Search for Tomorrow's Liza shot her father-in-law.
1991: The Young and the Restless' Nina shot David.

"All true histories contain instruction; though, in some, the treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in quantity that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates for the trouble of cracking the nut."
― Anne Brontë in "Agnes Grey"

"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...

1968: On Dark Shadows, Millicent Collins (Nancy Barrett) visited Nathan Forbes and asked him to stay in Collinsport.

1979: On Another World, Jamie Frame (Tim Holcomb) told his mother, Rachel (Victoria Wyndham), he never wanted to see her again.

1980: On Days of our Lives, Tom Horton (Macdonald Carey) and Alice Horton (Frances Reid) celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. The Horton family sang the happy couple's favorite song, "Always." John Lupton returned as Tommy Horton for the occasion.



1980: On The Edge of Night, the train taking Draper Scott (Tony Craig) to prison derailed.



1983: On Search for Tomorrow, an argument with her father-in-law, Rusty Sentell (David Gale), turned violent for Liza (Sherry Mathis).

1983: On Guiding Light, Hope and Alan Spaulding hosted a party to celebrate their reconciliation.



Thanks to Jennifer for sending in the clip above.

1986: On As the World Turns, Craig Montgomery (Scott Bryce) hoped to convince Betsy Stewart to work for him. Meanwhile Lily Walsh (Martha Byrne) offered to help her mother, Lucinda, patch things up with her sister, Sierra.



1986: On Guiding Light, friends and family gathered at Ed and Maureen's house for a memorial service in honor of the late Bert Bauer. Actress Charita Bauer joined the cast as Bert in February 1950, when the show still aired only on the radio. She passed away on February 28, 1985.



Thanks to Jennifer for sending in the clip above.

1989: Leigh McCloskey debuted as Ethan Asher in Santa Barbara.

1991: On The Young and the Restless, Nina Webster Kimble (Tricia Cast) shot her husband, David Kimble (Michael Corbett), five times.

1995: On One Life to Live, Blair (Kassie DePaiva) told a shocked Cord (John Loprieno) that he didn't know about the baby she was carrying because he was not the father.



2004: Kiki McCabe--a writer who worked at Another World, The Guiding Light and All My Children--died at age 75.

Celebrating a birthday today are:
Daniel J. Travanti (ex-Spence, General Hospital) - 77
Richard Lawson (ex-Lucas, All My Children; ex-Nick, Dynasty) - 70
Lizbeth MacKay (ex-Leora, All My Children) - 68
Mark Pinter (ex-Marcus, The Young and the Restless; ex-Thomas, General Hospital; ex-Roger, All My Children; ex-Brian, As the World Turns; ex-Grant, Another World; ex-Mark, Guiding Light; ex-Tom, Love of Life) - 67
Linda Gibboney (ex-Gina, Santa Barbara; ex-Sybil, All My Children; ex-Jessica, Generations; ex-Jenny, Search for Tomorrow) - 67
Bryan Cranston (ex-Walter, Breaking Bad; ex-Doug, Loving) - 61
Donna Murphy (ex-Morgan, Another World) - 58
Mary Beth Evans (Kayla, Days of our Lives; Sara, The Bay; ex-Sierra, As the World Turns; ex-Katherine, General Hospital; ex-Dakota, Rituals) - 56
Bill Brochtrup (ex-Hank, Days of our Lives) - 55
Jennifer Roszell (ex-Eleni, Guiding Light) - 51
Jennifer Hammon (ex-Karen, Port Charles; ex-Karen, General Hospital) - 44
Darryl Stephens (ex-Rudy, Undressed) - 43
Chrystee Pharris (ex-Simone, Passions; ex-Katie, General Hospital) - 41
Heather Roop (ex-Jane, All My Children)
Jessica Jimenez (ex-Catalina, Guiding Light) - 35
Aarón Díaz (Léon, Quantico; ex-Oleg, El Señor de los Cielos; ex-Arturo, Tierra de Reyes; César, Los Miserables; ex-Santiago, Santa Diabla; ex-Antonio, El Talisman; ex-Miguel, Pan Am; ex-Mariano, Teresa) - 35

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you would like to submit a soap history entry for this date or a future date, email editor@welovesoaps.com.