Everybody knows Hiroshima and Nagasaki, but do you know Chernobyl?

Probably every person on this planet, who has taken elementary education, knows about the bombings on Hiroshima and Nagasaki (if you dont know about this incident, and claim to have taken the elementary education, die die die). But how many know Chernobyl? It was a question I deviced in my freshmen year at IIT, just to check the level of General knowledge of my friends. I was surprised to see, that only 8 out of 14 people knew about it. And if this was condition of the students of one of the most prestigious universties in the world, I couldnt even imagine was the case outside. But I would still say, if you dont know anything about Chernobyl (not so fast Three mile island, you are not that famous), you have no right of praising your trivial knowledge.

If you know about Chernobyl, great. If you dont know, keep reading.

On 26th of April, 1986, Pripyat (where Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor was located) encountered what was the biggest Nuclear disaster in history (in terms of Nuclear Fallout). Reactor number four at Chernobyl Nuclear Reactor exploded at 1:23AM in the morning, due to massive power excursion. Mayhem of explosions and fires followed and soon, 30 to 40 times more radioactive material was in atmospehere than what Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined gave us. The plume went over western Soviet Union, Easter-western and northern Europe, and on eastern North America. About 3,40,000 people were evacuated and relocated. Death toll is estimated to be about 9,000-9,500 (50 from direct effect, 4000 living nearby and 5000 more living far away, due to various diseases). The 30km Chernobyl exclusion zone still remains uninhabited, mostly.

It was Sweden where radiations were first detected, obviously other than Soviet Union. The world was shocked. Chernobyl put a question mark on safety of Nuclear reactors, forever.

The famous Pripyat ferry wheel
Pripyat, the city where Nuclear reactor was located, is empty from last 22 years, with everything untouched. It has been referenced in popular culture many times. In games like Call of Duty 4: Modern warfare (50,000 people used to live here, now its a ghost town) and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.-shadow of Chernobyl. In Spider-man: the animated series, in book Tom Clancy's splinter cell: Checkmate and in Aqua teen hunger force.

Read more about it here.