1. For nearly 11 years, Michelle Knight endured unthinkable abuse as a captive in a Cleveland home. But now she has her own apartment, is taking cooking classes in hopes of becoming a chef, and has even changed her name.
"I felt like every brand-new start needs new beginnings,'' she told Savannah Guthrie. "My name is Lillian Rose Lee."
2. Memphis has been the home of the King of Rock 'n' Roll (Elvis) and the King of the Blues (BB King), as well as the birthplace of the Queen of Soul (Aretha Franklin). But now it's playing host to royalty of another sort.
Prince William, the second in line to the English throne, and his younger brother, Prince Harry, flew across the pond and hit Tennessee to attend the swanky wedding of a good friend this weekend.
3. The ex-boyfriend of Amanda Knox said the report released this week by the Italian appeals court that reconvicted them of murder is "full of errors" and "a fiction" on TODAY Friday.
"I'm still detailing all the aspects of these reports, but basically it's full of errors,'' Raffaele Sollecito told Savannah Guthrie in an interview from Treviso, Italy. "There are mistakes all over the pages."
4. Next week marks 10 years since NBC's hit sitcom "Friends" aired its final episode, and to celebrate, The Rembrandts performed the show's classic theme song, "I'll Be There For You" on TODAY Friday morning.
We also opened the TODAY vault to bring you Katie Couric's interview with the now-legendary cast from 1994, when the show first premiered.
5. As a TODAY anchor and the host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Willie Geist wakes up early. Very, very early.
"The alarm goes off around 4 a.m., at which time I spring out of bed ready for the day," Willie reveals in a first-person chronicle of his morning routine. "And by 'spring out of bed ready for the day' I mean 'hit the snooze button on my alarm a couple of times before dragging myself to the shower, where the drops of water mix with the tears.'”
And that's TODAY's Takeaway!