A closer look at key historic events that took place on April 26:
In 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear accident takes place 
An explosion and fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine on April 26 released large amounts of radioactive material into the atmosphere creating an environmental disaster.

A file picture dated 05 March 1999 of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant. The fourth and last reactor still functioning at the power plant was shut down just after midnight on Thursday 01 July 1999 to allow for a major four-month overhauling of the accident-prone station. EPA PHOTO EPA FILES/Sergei SUPINSKY

In 1964, the United Republic of Tanzania is founded

Tanzania was the result of a merger between Tanganyika and ZanzibarJulius Nyerere was its first president.

Flag of Tanzania. Shutterstock

In 1937, Guernica is bombed

The Basque city of Guernica was bombed by the German air force during the Spanish Civil War. The event has been memorialized in Pablo Picasso‘s painting Guernica.

Pablo Picasso’s Guernica

In 1933, the Gestapo is formed 

The political police of Nazi Germany known as the Gestapo were created by Hermann Göring to eliminate opposition and gather Jews for deportation to the various extermination camps.

This undated photograph shows the Head of the Nazi German SS and Gestapo, Heinrich Himmler, as he inspects a German prisoner of war camp at an unknown location in the Soviet Union. (AP Photo)

In 1865, John Wilkes Booth is killed

Twelve days after assassinating US President Abraham LincolnJohn Wilkes Booth was killed in Virginia farm either by a Federal soldier or by his own hand.

John Wilkes Booth (From a photograph taken in 1864). Coffin, Charles Carleton, 1823-1896 Independent Order of Odd Fellows. Sovereign Grand Lodge

In 1607, the first English settlers land in North America

The first permanent settlers landed at Cape Henry, Chesapeake Bay, later forming Jamestown.

Jamestown Settlement

– Don’t miss out on To Vima’s daily “On this Day in History” posts.