Today in Soap Opera History (April 4)

"History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into d ifferent and unexpected images."
― Anselm Kiefer

"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...

Generations included Martin Luther King Jr.
in its opening sequence.

1968: Just after 6 p.m., Martin Luther King Jr. was fatally shot while standing on the balcony outside his second-story room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. The civil rights leader was in Memphis to support a sanitation workers' strike and was on his way to dinner when a bullet struck him in the jaw and severed his spinal cord. King was pronounced dead after his arrival at a Memphis hospital. He was 39 years old.

The Peyton Place episode scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET that night was preempted.

21 years later, in 1989, Generations became the first daytime soap opera to premiere with an African-American core family. The show's opening sequence included a shot of Dr. King.

1975: On Another World, Dennis (Mike Hammett) and Iris (Beverlee McKinsey) came over for the first dinner with Mac (Douglass Watson) and Rachel (Victoria Wydham) at the Cory mansion.

Today in Soap Opera History (April 4)

"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...

Generations included Martin Luther King Jr.
in its opening sequence.

1968: Just after 6 p.m., Martin Luther King Jr. was fatally shot while standing on the balcony outside his second-story room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. The civil rights leader was in Memphis to support a sanitation workers' strike and was on his way to dinner when a bullet struck him in the jaw and severed his spinal cord. King was pronounced dead after his arrival at a Memphis hospital. He was 39 years old.

The Peyton Place episode scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET that night was preempted.

21 years later, in 1989, Generations became the first daytime soap opera to premiere with an African-American core family. The show's opening sequence included a shot of Dr. King.

1975: On Another World, Dennis (Mike Hammett) and Iris (Beverlee McKinsey) came over for the first dinner with Mac (Douglass Watson) and Rachel (Victoria Wydham) at the Cory mansion.

Today in Soap Opera History (April 4)

"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...

Generations included Martin Luther King Jr.
in its opening sequence.

1968: Just after 6 p.m., Martin Luther King Jr. was fatally shot while standing on the balcony outside his second-story room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. The civil rights leader was in Memphis to support a sanitation workers' strike and was on his way to dinner when a bullet struck him in the jaw and severed his spinal cord. King was pronounced dead after his arrival at a Memphis hospital. He was 39 years old.

The Peyton Place episode scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET that night was preempted.

21 years later, in 1989, Generations became the first daytime soap opera to premiere with an African-American core family. The show's opening sequence included a shot of Dr. King.

1975: On Another World, Dennis (Mike Hammett) and Iris (Beverlee McKinsey) came over for the first dinner with Mac (Douglass Watson) and Rachel (Victoria Wydham) at the Cory mansion.

Today in Soap Opera History (April 4)

"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...

GENERATIONS included Martin Luther King Jr.
in its opening sequence.

1968: Just after 6 p.m., Martin Luther King Jr. was fatally shot while standing on the balcony outside his second-story room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. The civil rights leader was in Memphis to support a sanitation workers' strike and was on his way to dinner when a bullet struck him in the jaw and severed his spinal cord. King was pronounced dead after his arrival at a Memphis hospital. He was 39 years old.

The PEYTON PLACE episode scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET that night was preempted.

21 years later, in 1989, GENERATIONS became the first daytime soap opera to premiere with an African-American core family. The show's opening sequence included a shot of Dr. King.

1975: On ANOTHER WORLD, Dennis (Mike Hammett) and Iris (Beverlee McKinsey) came over for the first dinner with Mac (Douglass Watson) and Rachel (Victoria Wydham) at the Cory mansion.

Today in Soap Opera History (April 4)

"There is no present or future, only the past happening over and over again - now."
- Eugene O'Neill

"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...

GENERATIONS included Martin Luther King Jr.
in its opening sequence.

1968: Just after 6 p.m., Martin Luther King Jr. was fatally shot while standing on the balcony outside his second-story room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. The civil rights leader was in Memphis to support a sanitation workers' strike and was on his way to dinner when a bullet struck him in the jaw and severed his spinal cord. King was pronounced dead after his arrival at a Memphis hospital. He was 39 years old.

The PEYTON PLACE episode scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET that night was preempted.

21 years later, in 1989, GENERATIONS became the first daytime soap opera to premiere with an African-American core family. The show's opening sequence included a shot of Dr. King.

1975: On ANOTHER WORLD, Dennis (Mike Hammett) and Iris (Beverlee McKinsey) came over for the first dinner with Mac (Douglass Watson) and Rachel (Victoria Wydham) at the Cory mansion.

Today in Soap Opera History (April 4)

On this date in...

GENERATIONS included Martin Luther King Jr.
in its opening sequence.

1968: Just after 6 p.m., Martin Luther King Jr. was fatally shot while standing on the balcony outside his second-story room at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. The civil rights leader was in Memphis to support a sanitation workers' strike and was on his way to dinner when a bullet struck him in the jaw and severed his spinal cord. King was pronounced dead after his arrival at a Memphis hospital. He was 39 years old.

The PEYTON PLACE episode scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET that night was preempted.

21 years later, in 1989, GENERATIONS became the first daytime soap opera to premiere with an African-American core family. The show's opening sequence included a shot of Dr. King.

1975: On ANOTHER WORLD, Dennis (Mike Hammett) and Iris (Beverlee McKinsey) came over for the first dinner with Mac (Douglass Watson) and Rachel (Victoria Wydham) at the Cory mansion.

Today in Soap Opera History (April 4)

On this date in...

1975: On ANOTHER WORLD, Dennis and Iris came over for the first dinner with Mac and Rachel at the Cory mansion.

1980: On THE EDGE OF NIGHT, Logan and Raven had it out over Jaimey.