"Like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives." For more than half a century, those words have introduced Days of Our Lives, NBC's longest running soap opera. The record was previously held by Another World, which was cancelled in 1999.

The Guiding Light originally revolved around the Church of Little Five Points in Illinois. The widowed Reverend John Ruthledge administered at the church and the guiding light referred to a lamp he had in his study that always remained lit for anyone who wished to seek comfort at the non-denominational church.

In 1981, more Americans watched Luke and Laura's wedding on General Hospital than Prince Charles and Lady Diana's actual televised nuptials. The episode brought in 30 million viewers and remains the highest-rated hour in American soap opera history.

In 1995, Marlena was featured in a supernatural possession storyline. Soap Opera Digest editor Stephanie Sloane said the story "completely changed the face of daytime storytelling in the 1990s," but Entertainment Weekly called it "The Dumbest Soap Plot Ever."

Far from trying to conceal her 1984 facelift, Cooper had it written into the storyline, so that her grand dame character Katherine Chancellor got one at the same time.

Several characters from the show (Jake, Cass, Vicky, and Marley) turned up on As the World Turns.

The Edge of Night debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that network for most of its run until November 28, 1975. The series then moved to ABC, where it aired from December 1, 1975, until December 28, 1984.

DiCaprio only appeared in one episode of Santa Barbara, but it earned him a nomination for Best Young Actor in a Daytime Series.

Susan Lucci played Erica Kane for more than 40 years. During that time, her penchant for tying the proverbial knot became the stuff of soap opera legend as she married 10 different men in 11 wedding ceremonies, although four of her marriages were later invalidated.

Dark Shadows (1966-1971) featured a gothic vampire storyline alongside the standard "soap" plots. The show won a cult following that rivaled that of another long-running science fiction TV series, Doctor Who.