April 26 Birthday
April 26, 1986: Reactor 4 at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded during a safety test gone wrong. The operators had disabled safety systems to run the test, and the reactor's design had a critical flaw — a positive void coefficient that made it more reactive when water turned to steam. Two workers died in the initial explosion. Over the following weeks, 28 first responders died of acute radiation sickness. The exclusion zone remains in place and will be for centuries. The same date in 1994 saw South Africa hold its first democratic elections with universal suffrage. People born on April 26 fall under the zodiac sign of Taurus. The birthstone is Diamond and the birth flower is Daisy. Historical events on April 26 include 1937: Guernica bombed by German Condor Legion, 1986: Chernobyl nuclear disaster, 1994: South Africa holds first multiracial elections. Famous people born on April 26 include John James Audubon (1785), Carol Burnett (1933), Channing Tatum (1980).