July 16th

On this day - July 16th 1945 - The detonation of the first atomic bomb 

During the second world war initiated the US a program called "The Manhattan project". The aim of this project was to develop an nuclear bomb. Kenneth Bainbridge was assigned the task of planning the test already in March 1944.  The first bomb to be detonated had the code name Trinity and was detonated on this day in 1945. The nuclear test was conducted in the Jornada del Muerto dessert in New Mexico.

April 26th

On this day - April 26th 1986 - Chernobyl Nuclear Accident 

The Chernobyl Nuclear accident was a disaster that happened in Ukraine which was a part of the Soviet area. The accident started when a systems test was run on reactor number 4. A sudden power surge and the complications which followed led to several explosions and a fire. The explosions and the fire led to the release of several radioactive particles which was spread to other parts of the world, manly the Soviet Union and Europe. 31 people died in the accident itself, and several others might have suffered from long-term effects from the radioactive particles (Read Consequences of the Catastrophe for People and the Environment for a debate on long-term effects). The accident have played an important role in both debates about nuclear power plants and the environment ever since.