Today in Soap Opera History (January 21)

On this date in...

1949: Irna Phillips' THESE ARE MY CHILDREN, the first television soap opera to appear on a major television network, premiered on NBC. It ran weekdays at 5 p.m. until it went off the air just over a month later, on February 25. FARAWAY HILL is considered to be the first television soap on a network. The series ran from October 2, 1946 to December 18, 1946 on DuMont.

1958: On THE EDGE OF NIGHT, Marceau informed Harris that the car accident victim had died.

1966: On ANOTHER WORLD, John and Lee had a terrible argument.

1997: Beth Ehlers returned to GUIDING LIGHT after more than three years away.

2005: John Reilly took over the role of Alistair Crane on the NBC soap PASSIONS.

2008: Telenovela GUEGO EN LA SANGRE (Burning for revenge) premiered on Mexico's Canal de las Estrellas network.

2009: DAYS OF OUR LIVES aired its 11,000th episode.

Celebrating a birthday today are:
Robby Benson (ex-Bruce, SEARCH FOR TOMORROW) - 56
Joe Marinelli (ex-Sorel, GENERAL HOSPITAL; ex-Pauly, GUIDING LIGHT) - 55
Charlotte Ross (Judy, GLEE; ex-Eve, DAYS OF OUR LIVES) - 44
Matthew Willig (ex-Tank, THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS) - 43
Ken Leung (ex-Miles, LOST) - 42
Jerry Trainor (ex-Eric, UNDRESSED) - 35
Luke Grimes (ex-Ryan, BROTHERS & SISTERS) - 28
Paige Kettner (ex-Abby, DAYS OF OUR LIVES; ex-Erin, BEVERLY HILLS 90210) - 21
Ryanne Kettner (ex-Abby, DAYS OF OUR LIVES; ex-Erin, BEVERLY HILLS 90210) - 21
Logan O'Brien (ex-Lucas, GENERAL HOSPITAL) - 20

EDITOR'S NOTE: If you would like to submit a piece of soap opera history for this daily column, please email it to editor@welovesoaps.com.

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