Today in Soap Opera History (October 6)

1986: Clarissa found a voodoo doll in her bed on Capitol.
1990: Susan Lucci hosted Saturday Night Live.  1994: General Hospital's Bobbie and Tony visited BJ's grave.  2010: "The Train Crash" episode of Emmerdale.

Every day, we dig into the archives to celebrate the moments, milestones, and memories that shaped the soaps we love—from daytime classics to digital dramas. Relive the weddings, scandals, premieres, finales, and unforgettable twists that made history.

ON THIS DAY IN...

1966: On Dark Shadows, Burke Devlin (Mitchell Ryan) told Carolyn (Nancy Barrett) that Roger Collins (Louis Edmonds) may have kept the expensive fountain pen for himself on the night Bill Malloy died.

1970: On Another World, Rachel (Robin Strasser) cried to Steve (George Reinholt) that their sick little boy, Jamie, would die as punishment for her sins. Later, Russ (Sam Groom) revealed Jamie's fever had broken.

1986: On Capitol, Clarissa (Constance Towers) was upset after she found the voodoo doll in her bed. Judson (Rory Calhoun) met with Papa Nebo (Julius Harris). D.J. (Grant Aleksander) planned his next move.



1986: On Another World, Vince McKinnon (Duke Stroud) was completely shocked on his birthday when "Marissa Love" (Denise Alexander) walked into Mary's Place, and he realized she was his "dead" wife, Mary McKinnon.  Mary refused to believe it, but later Reginald Love (John Considine) admitted to her that it was true.



1986: On Capitol, DJ (Grant Aleksander) was unhappy to learn Jordy and Brenda were back together.



1986: On Santa Barbara, Gina DeMott (Robin Mattson) and C.C. Capwell (Jed Allan) smoked cigars just before she burned the tape that would have exonerated C.C.'s daughter, Kelly. Former Guiding Light favorite Lenore Kasdorf made her first appearance as Caroline Wilson in this episode.

1988: On The Bold and the Beautiful, Brooke Logan (Katherine Kelly Lang) came to visit an unconscious Ridge Forrester (Ronn Moss) in his hospital room and found Caroline Spencer (Joanna Johnson) already there.

1990: All My Children star Susan Lucci hosted Saturday Night Live, with musical guest Hothouse Flowers. Match Game host Gene Rayburn made a cameo appearance in the "Game Breakers" sketch along with Don Pardo. Watch the hilarious "All My Luggage" sketch below.



1994: The Museum of Television & Radio (now known as The Paley Center) celebrated "Thirty Years of Another World" with a panel discussion and screening in New York, moderated by Ron Simon. Members of the cast and production team of Another World discussed the past, present, and future of the long-running daytime serial. The panel consisted of Victoria Wyndham, Charles Keating, Linda Dano, Stephen Schnetzer, and Grayson McCouch; executive producer Terri Guarnieri; head writer Carolyn Culliton; and director Linda Barker Laundra.

1994: On General Hospital, Bobbie (Jacklyn Zeman) and Tony Jones (Brad Maule) visited BJ's grave on her birthday.



1995: John Bolger debuted as Gabe McNamara on Another World.

2000: Melissa Reeves returned to Days of our Lives as Jennifer Horton after a five year absence.

2010: Legendary writer Agnes Nixon was honored at the Giants of Broadcasting Luncheon held as the The Library of American Broadcasting. Check out what some daytime veterans had to say about Ms. Nixon in We Love Soaps interviews over the years here.

2010: On Emmerdale, what was meant to be a fun date night out at the club soon took a dramatic, then tragic turn after Jackson Walsh (Marc Silcock) decided to end things with his boyfriend, Aaron Livesy (Danny Miller), because Aaron seemed incapable of focusing on their relationship or even trying to express what he felt for Jackson. Generally referred to as "The Train Crash" episode, the scenes in this clip were part of a special, one-hour Emmerdale event, becoming an instant classic because of the stellar acting, directing, and location/stunt shooting involved.



2011: On One Life to Live, Tina (Andrea Evans) and Cord (John Loprieno) rehashed their past.

TODAY'S BIRTHDAYS

Ellen Travolta (ex-Gloria, General Hospital) - 86
Michael Durrell (ex-John, Beverly Hills, 90210; ex-Alex, Santa Barbara; ex-Peter, Guiding Light; ex-Mike, Search for Tomorrow) - 82
Wendy Robie (ex-Nadine, Twin Peaks) - 72
Flavio Caballero (ex-Anibal, El Joe, La Leyenda; ex-Alfredo, Valeria) - 67
Amy Jo Johnson (ex-Julie, Felicity) - 55
Lamman Rucker (ex-Marshall, As the World Turns/ex-Garrett, All My Children) - 54
Ioan Gruffudd (ex-Andrew, Ringer) - 53
Jeremy Sisto (ex-Billy, Six Feet Under) - 51
Wes Ramsey (ex-Peter, General Hospital; Van, Venice; ex-Max, The Playboy Club; ex-Owen, Days of our Lives; ex-Sam, Guiding Light) - 48
Phillip Jeanmarie (ex-Vincent, Passions) - 47
Benjamin Mathes (ex-Brady, As the World Turns) - 46
Bronagh Waugh (ex-Cheryl, Hollyoaks) - 43

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