Five Things That Happened On May 4 In Soap History

In 1964, Another World debuted on NBC. The show, which went off the air in 1999, was created by Irna Phillips (the creative force behind Guiding Light and As the World Turns) and William J. Bell, who would go on to create Young and Restless and Bold and Beautiful.

In 1987, supercouple Kimberly Brady (Patsy Pease) and Shane Donovan (Charles Shaughnessy) said, “I do” on Days of Our Lives. After overcoming the return of his “dead” first wife, Emma, Kim’s temporary blindness, a bogus murder charge and a tampered paternity test involving their son, Andrew, Shane surprised his fiancée with a spur-of-the-moment ceremony in candle-filled St. Michael’s Church. Escorted down the aisle by her beaming father, Shawn, Kim donned a Chantilly lace and silk satin gown (a gift from the groom) for the traditional Catholic ceremony. After the reception at Neil’s, the duo wished upon a star, then departed for a honeymoon.

In 1993 on General Hospital, Dominique Stanton Baldwin (Shell Danielson) succumbed to a brain tumor and passed away in husband Scott Baldwin's (Kin Shriner) arms. At the time, Lucy Coe was serving as a surrogate mother for the couple, carrying their daughter, Serena. Recalled Shriner in an interview with Soap Opera Digest in 2023, "Shell [Danielson] decided to quit, and they decided to kill her off, but that wasn’t the way [it was originally written]. Scotty and Dominique got drunk and got married in Vegas, and all of a sudden she became the love of Scotty’s life and she’s dying in his arms. I said, ‘Shell, why would you leave the show? Don’t do it!’ But she wanted to leave, and so that’s how that all came about. It was a fluke. But it wasn’t how I wanted it to go.”

In 2007, on General Hospital, Elizabeth Webber (Rebecca Herbst) gave birth to her second son, Jake. Married to Lucky but secretly pregnant by Jason, Liz had a stressful pregnancy. She went into labor at home during a massive storm, which knocked out the phone lines. Desperate, she tried to get herself to the hospital, but passed out on the floor before she got out the door. Jason whisked her to G.H., and Liz underwent an emergency C-section as Jason watched helplessly from afar. Just as the baby was about to be born, his heart rate dropped precipitously. “We’re losing him!” warned Dr. Lee. Oxygen was administered to baby Jake as soon as he was born, and shock paddles were used to stabilize Liz.

In 2012, Bold and Beautiful's Liam Spencer tore up the annulment papers his wife, Steffy Forrester, had signed after the duo had an emotional conversation. They did eventually end their marriage, though.