Five Things That Happened On January 28 In Soap History

In 1982, John Stamos debuted as General Hospital’s Blackie Parrish. He exited the show in 1984 and, of course, went on to prime-time stardom on shows like Full House and ER. He also put in a cameo appearance on the show in 1992 in scenes opposite Kin Shriner (Scotty), who remained a close friend. In 2001, he joked to Soap Opera Digest about his talent, "I think I showed it about year one of General Hospital, and I've been going downhill ever since."

In 1999, Eric Brady (Jensen Ackles) and Nicole Walker (Arianne Zucker) made love for the first time on Days of Our Lives. Alas, though the year began on such an encouraging note for their relationship, it soon hit the skids when Nicole accepted a five million dollar bribe from Lucas Roberts's mother, Kate Roberts, to marry Lucas. Despite breaking Eric's heart with her new marriage, Nicole set about trying to bust up Eric's new romance with Greta von Ambeg.

In 2004, original Days of Our Lives cast member John Clarke aired for the final time as Mickey Horton. It was the actor's choice to retire from the role that he originated in 1965. In a statement, a DAYS spokesperson shared at the time, "John, with his physician's urging, wants to have time to walk his dogs, travel with his wife, sing in his choir, watch his daughter [Mindy Clarke, ex-Faith, DAYS, who was then starring on The OC] on a hit TV show and take care of his grandbaby."

In 2004, Marlena (Deidre Hall) was revealed to be the Salem Stalker on Days of Our Lives. The storyline shocker took place at the end of the episode, when Marlena slipped into Tony's hospital room, where she would ultimately administer a fatal dose of drugs to him as he recovered from being mauled by a tiger (that she unleashed upon him) — but this fate was reversed when it was revealed that the victim was not actually Tony, but Andre posing as Tony. Marlena also received a reprieve — turns out, she wasn't really the killer, but had been made to believe that she was by devious Andre. The various people she thought she had offed turned up alive on the island of Melaswen by the story's end.

In 2009, EJ (James Scott) and Sami’s (Alison Sweeney) daughter, Sydney DiMera, was born on Days of Our Lives. The expectant mother was in witness protection at the time, hiding out in a convent. Nicole (who had secretly miscarried the baby she was expecting with EJ and was desperate to obtain a baby to pass off as her own) orchestrated things so that Sami gave birth at a clinic under the care of Dr. Baker, who Nicole blackmailed into switching Sami's newborn with the baby a young woman named Mia had just birthed. Nicole left with Sami's real baby, and convinced EJ she had just given birth.