Five Things That Happened On April 29 In Soap History

In 1998, country singer Leann Rimes made her Days of Our Lives debut as Madison, a runway teenager who intersected with Eric Brady, then played by Jensen Ackles. During Madison's two-day stint, she developed a crush on Eric, and fantasized about them sharing a dance to one of Rimes's songs, "Looking Through Your Eyes." Eric provided Madison wtih bus fare to return to her hometown, where her pastor and his wife had agreed to become her legal guardians.

In 2005, soap opera pioneer William J. Bell passed away. He began his career in daytime writing for Guiding Light and As The World Turns, where he worked alongside the mother of the modern soap opera, Irna Phillips. Along with Phillips, he created Another World, then became the head writer of Days of Our Lives. After his legendary run as DAYS's chief scribe, Bell and his wife, Lee Phillip Bell, co-created Young and Restless, and later, Bold and Beautiful. Today, his children continue his legacy: son William is the president of Bell-Phillips Production Inc.; son Bradley is the executive producer and head writer of B&B, and daughter Lauralee plays Christine on Y&R.

In 2013, Prospect Park’s streaming versions of All My Children and One Life to Live premiered. The longtime ABC dramas had last aired in 2011 and 2012, respectively. On the first episode of the AMC reboot, future Days of Our Lives star Robert Scott Wilson made his debut as Peter Cortlandt, and Vincent Irizarry's David Hayward was released from prison after a five-year stint. On OLTL's debut episode, Roger Howarth's Todd Manning returned to Llanview — as did Trevor St. John's Victor Lord, Jr., whose loved ones believed that he had been killed at the hands of his twin, Todd.

In 2016 on Young and Restless, Sage Warner Newman (Kelly Sullivan, l.) passed away after a car wreck. Sage had confronted Sharon about baby Sully, telling Sharon that she knew the little boy Sharon had been raising as her own was actually Christian Newman, Sage's own son. Sharon tearfully admitted that Sage was right, and Sage blasted her for her deception. Sage announced that she was going to tell Nick. Speeding off in her car, though, she wound up in a terrible accident and was ejected from the vehicle. Sharon, who was trailing her, was there when Sage took her last breath, as was the baby.

In 2010, Sonny Corinthos's (Maurice Benard, l.) loved ones — and a few of his haters — gathered in the courtroom on General Hospital after the jury returned a verdict in his murder trial. (Sonny stood accused of killing his former wife, Claudia Zacchara). Carly Jacks and Jason Morgan were particularly on edge, worried because Claudia's real killer — Michael Corinthos — had been spotted back in town by Alexis Davis. Before the jury foreman read the verdict, Dante Falconeri (Dominic Zamprogna) burst in and announced that there was new evidence that needed to be heard. The judge began to protest, at which point Dante revealed that Sonny didn't kill Claudia — Michael did!