Five Things That Happened On May 19 In Soap History

In 1992 on Days of Our Lives, John Black (Drake Hogestyn) wed a very pregnant Isabella Toscano (Staci Greason). The pair had fallen in love back when he still thought he was Roman. The return of the real Roman prompted an identity crisis for John, and he was reluctant to marry her until he knew who he truly was. After an ex-lover helped fill in the blanks, John happily told Isabella that he wanted to get hitched right away. "Seeing how that baby could be born at any time, I don't think we have any time to waste!" he noted. She happily concurred and by the end of the day, they were not only newlyweds but new parents, to son Brady, as Isabella went into labor at the ceremony and wound up giving birth!

In 1994 on General Hospital, Maxie Jones (who was suffering from Kawasaki syndrome) received a desperately needed heart transplant. Tragically, the organ came from her cousin, BJ Jones, who had been declared brain-dead after a catastrophic bus crash. After the transplant, BJ's grief-stricken father, Tony Jones (Brad Maule) listened to his daughter's heart beating in his niece’s chest. Recalling the pivotal scenes to Soap Opera Digest in 2023, Maule said, "We actually filmed the death and goodbye of BJ in one take without rehearsal. I didn’t have the composure, or perhaps the strength, to properly say goodbye to Brighton [Hertford, who played BJ] or her character BJ, and I’m sorry for that. I had lived that story in my own life when my brother died at 17—I was 13—and though I wasn’t truly aware of the connection as we filmed, I was a wreck and just tried to get the lines out as best I could."

In 1998, Ellen Wheeler returned to Another World as Marley Hudson, a role she had last played in 1986. What made her return particularly noteworthy is that Marley's twin sister, Vicky (a role Wheeler originated) was now being played by Jensen Buchanan, to whom Wheeler was obviously not identical.

In 2009 on Days of Our Lives, Sami Brady (Alison Sweeney) and Rafe Hernandez (Galen Gering) made love for the first time. "I'm so happy," beamed Sami. "I have never felt this way before." The duo would go on to wed in November of the following year, though the marriage ended in 2012. In 2022, Gering mused to Soap Opera Digest about Rafe's relationship with Sami, "Looking back, they had the biggest connection, and she was probably the deepest of his relationships. It offered Rafe things he really wanted in his life with children. This is a guy who’s always wanted kids, but has never had any. He was able to raise Sami’s kids and was deeply connected to them. He still is to this day."

In 2019 on Young and Restless, Jack Abbott (Peter Bergman) stopped by the ranch to deliver a book about classical music composers to Nikki Newman (Melody Thomas Scott). Talk turned to his difficult relationship with his mother, Dina, who had recently returned to town. Nikki noted that while Jack had good reason to be angry with Dina, who had abandoned him years ago, he also clearly still craved her love. She encouraged him to find a way to forgive Dina.