Five Things That Happened On December 25 In Soap History

In 1986, All My Children's Palmer Cortlandt (James Mitchell) proposed marriage to his ex-wife, Daisy Murdoch (Gillian Spencer). At Cortlandt Manor, Palmer and Daisy reminisced about the recent wedding of their daughter, Nina, to Cliff Warner. "It's Christmas, and I'm so blessed to have you back," Palmer beamed. "And I'm so happy to be here," she responded. Palmer directed her to open a velvet box under the tree. She was stunned to find a beautiful engagement ring. "Marry me, Daisy," Palmer said. "You are my nearest and my dearest friend, and my sweetest and most passionate lover."

In 1996, Lindsay Lohan debuted as Another World’s Alli Fowler. The actress was only 10 years old at the time and would, of course, go on to great success in feature films like Freaky Friday and Mean Girls. On the same day, Laura Moss first appeared in the role of Alli's mother, Amanda Cory, who had last appeared in 1995 in the form of actress Christine Tucci. Moss remained with AW until 1998, when Sandra Ferguson, who had played Amanda from 1987-93, returned to the show. As for Lohan, she exited the soap in July 1997.

In 2002, Jay Kenneth Johnson ended his first run as Philip Kiriakis on Days of Our Lives, which had kicked off in 1999. In the storyline, Philip left Salem to enlist in the Marines. In his final episode, Philip said good-bye to his parents, Victor Kiriakis and Kate Roberts, along with his half sister Billie Reed and half brother Lucas Roberts, as well as to Shawn Brady and Belle Black. His final scenes were with Chloe Lane, who wished him well as he departed.

In 2003, Days of Our Lives's Roman Brady (Josh Taylor), who had recently gotten engaged to Kate Roberts (Lauren Koslow), attended the reading of the Christmas story at Salem University Hospital. Jennifer Deveraux did the honors, and included the favorite Bible passage of her husband, Jack Deveraux, who everyone believed had just been murdered by the Salem Stalker. After Jennifer's recitation, Roman received an ominous message on his phone: "You won't live to see your honeymoon night."

In 2018, Days of Our Lives's Abigail (Marci Miller) received an unwelcome visit from Stefan DiMera (Tyler Christopher),  who, at the time, she believed was the father of her baby girl, Charlotte. Stefan pleaded with Abigail to let him give a Christmas gift to the child, which Abigail allowed over Julie's (Susan Seaforth Hayes) protests. Stefan and Abigail began bickering as Stefan handed her papers, announcing his intent to sue her for custody. Suddenly, Julie had a flash of memory and recalled finding evidence that Gabi Hernandez had switched Charlotte's paternity test results. She excitedly revealed to a stunned Abigail and Stefan that Chad was actually Charlotte's father!