Five Things That Happened On October 23 In Soap History

In 1990, Stephen Nichols's beloved alter ego, Steve Johnson, “died” on Days of Our Lives after being injured in an explosion. The character had been rendered comatose in the blast, but regained consciousness, much to the relief of his loved ones — his wife, Kayla, in particular. Steve shared some touching moments with his brother, Jack, before Kayla cleared out the room, as she could tell Steve was struggling. A doctor administered medication to Steve's IV. Steve spoke to Bo, telling him not to blame himself, and Bo went to fetch a doctor. Kayla and Steve shared a loving exchange before Steve suddenly coded. Jack walked in and tried to comfort Kayla while doctors worked to revive Steve, but they were unsuccessful. Steve's death was reversed when portrayer Stephen Nichols returned to the show in 2006.

In 1998, Neil Winters (Kristoff St. John) presented Victoria Newman (Heather Tom) with a key to his home as they made plans to move in together on Young and Restless. The characters' interracial romance sparked controversy among some viewers, which Heather Tom addressed to Soap Opera Digest in 1999. "What really bothered me [about the hate mail she received when Neil and Victoria weren't involved] wasn’t the blatant racists," she noted, "the people who were like, ‘It’s against the Lord’s law, and you’re all going to burn in hell.’ That, to me, wasn’t as scary as the closet racists. I’d get letters saying, ‘I’m not a racist, but I just don’t think black people and white people should get together.’ Well, then you are racist. Hello!”

In 2007, Sami Brady (Alison Sweeney) welcomed twins, Johnny and Allie, on Days of Our Lives. Marlena, her mother, delivered the bundles of joy in Marlena's bedroom at the penthouse. Sami called Lucas (Bryan R. Dattilo), who was in the midst of an argument with EJ, to let him know that the babies were coming. Lucas arrived just as Johnny was making his entrance. Allie's arrival was a little more complicated, as the umbilical cord was wrapped around her neck, but Marlena managed the crisis with aplomb. EJ then burst in with Kate by his side and made the pointed comment that the newborns looked nothing alike — almost as if they had different fathers. That was, indeed, the case: Lucas is Allie's biological father, while EJ sired Johnny.

In 2008, All My Children’s Babe (Amanda Baker, with Jacob Young as JR Chandler) died from injuries sustained in a tornado. At the time of her death, she and JR had reconciled and had been planning to move away from Pine Valley and remarry, but they had been summoned back to town after receiving court subpoenas. On the somber day of her death, Babe asked JR to marry her right away and he agreed. Babe then revealed to her mother, Krystal, that she knew she wasn't going to survive. She requested a visit with her young son, known as Little Adam, and sang to him. Then, Babe told JR to be a good dad to Little Adam as he cried that he didn't know how to let her go. He carried a rapidly weakening Babe in his arms to the hospital chapel, and she passed away in his arms just as Babe's estranged father, David Hayward, arrived.

In 2019, Jophielle Love made her General Hospital debut as Violet, daughter of Hayden (Rebecca Budig) and Finn (Michael Easton). On the episode, Hayden revealed to a shocked Finn that despite what she had told him, her pregnancy had not ended in miscarriage, and, in fact, he was Violet's father. Hayden had just returned to town, and had brought Violet to the hospital for treatment when she spiked a high fever.