Events in Film & TV
- 1946-10-02 1st network soap opera "Faraway Hill" begins broadcasting on DuMont Television Network
- 1949-02-21 US TV soap opera "A Woman to Remember" is 1st broadcast on DuMont Television Network
- 1951-02-10 "John and Marsha" by Stan Freberg, a parody of daytime soap operas which had only two voices repeating each other's names, peaks at #21 in the USA
- 1951-09-03 TV soap opera "Search for Tomorrow" debuts on CBS
- 1952-06-30 "Guiding Light" soap opera moves from radio to TV
- 1954-01-04 Soap Opera "The Brighter Day" premieres
- 1954-02-01 1st TV soap opera "Secret Storm" premieres
- 1956-04-02 Soap operas "As the World Turns" & "Edge of Night" premiere on TV
- 1960-11-25 CBS ends last 4 radio soap operas (Ma Perkins, Right to Happiness, Young Dr Malone & 2nd Mrs Burton) & cancels 4 other series
- 1963-03-29 Final episode of soap opera "Young Doctor Malone"
- 1963-04-01 American television soap opera premieres: "General Hospital" (ABC) & "Doctors" (NBC)
- 1965-11-08 US soap opera "Days of Our Lives" premieres
- 1966-06-27 Dark Shadows, American Gothic soap opera, premieres on ABC-TV
- 1968-07-15 "One Life to Live", American soap opera, premieres on TV
- 1970-01-05 American daytime soap opera "All My Children" premieres on ABC
- 1970-03-30 American television soap opera "Another World in Somerset" premieres on NBC, runs until 1976
- 1971-04-02 Dark Shadows, American Gothic supernatural soap opera, concludes an almost 5 year run on ABC
- 1973-03-26 TV soap opera "The Young & the Restless" premieres on CBS
- 1974-02-08 American television soap opera "The Secret Storm" ends a 20 year run on CBS
- 1975-07-07 TV soap opera "Ryan's Hope" premieres
- 1975-11-28 "As the World Turns" and "The Edge of Night", the final two American soap operas that had resisted going to pre-taped broadcasts, air their last live episodes.
- 1979-12-27 Soap Opera "Knots Landing" premieres on CBS-TV
- 1980-02-01 Soap opera "Love of Life" ends a 28 year run
Premiere of Dynasty
1981-01-12 Soap opera "Dynasty" produced by Aaron Spelling and starring John Forsythe, Linda Evans and Joan Collins premieres on ABC-TV
- 1982-03-26 Soap opera "Capitol" premieres
- 1984-07-30 Soap Opera "Santa Barbara" premieres on NBC TV
- 1985-02-19 British soap opera "Eastenders" premieres on the BBC
- 1987-03-20 Soap opera "Capitol" final episode
- 1988-04-04 Last broadcast of British soap opera "Crossroads" on ITV
- 1989-03-27 1st African American soap opera, "Generations" premieres on NBC-TV
- 1991-01-25 Soap opera "Generation's" last episode after a 2½ year run
- 1991-12-17 Soap opera "One Life To Live" airs its 6,000th episode
- 1993-01-15 Soap opera "Santa Barbara" final show on NBC TV
- 1993-05-13 CBS' soap opera "Knots Landing" ends 14 year-run with 334th show in Netherlands and US
- 1997-03-28 "City" soap opera's final episode on ABC-TV
- 2009-09-18 The 72 year run of the soap opera The Guiding Light ends as its final episode is broadcast.
- 2010-09-17 The 54 year run of the soap opera As the World Turns ends as its final episode is broadcast.
Birthdays in Film & TV
- 1901-07-01 Irna Phillips, American scriptwriter who created 6 soap operas (Guiding Light), born in Chicago, Illinois (d. 1973)
- 1927-03-06 William J Bell, soap opera creator (Young & Restless), born in Chicago, Illinois
- 1935-05-05 Douglas Marland, American soap opera writer (Gen Hospital), born in West Sand Lake, New York (d. 1993)
Weddings in Film & TV
Lorenzo Lamas
1996-04-27 Soap opera actor Lorenzo Lamas (38) weds Playboy model and actress Shauna Sand (24) in Rockland County, New York
- 1996-06-16 Soap opera actress-singer Kassie Wesley (35) weds James De Paiva (39) in Morganfield, Kentucky
- 1997-05-03 "Port Charles" soap opera actor Jon Lindstrom (39) weds "The Young and The Restless" actress Eileen Davidson (38) in Cambria, California
- 2004-07-03 The Bachelor actor Bob Guiney (33) weds "All My Children" soap opera actress Rebecca Budig (31) in Long Lake, Michigan
Deaths in Film & TV
- 1973-12-23 Irna Phillips, American scriptwriter who created 6 soap operas (Guiding Light), dies at 72
- 1986-09-26 Hugh Franklin, American soap opera actor (b. 1916)
- 1993-03-06 Douglas Marland, American soap opera writer (As the World Turns), dies at 58
- 2002-10-20 Barbara Berjer, American soap opera actress (Another World), dies at 82