It's been 20 years since Chernobyl.

...And I almost forgot it. I was watching CNN for a few hours this afternoon, I don't remember it being mentioned, though it is on CNN's website. I don't remember hearing about it on NPR, though my friend Kristen says they mentioned it. Can we have a hurrah for the American media?

For those who don't remember, Chernobyl was (or rather, is) the worst nuclear disaster in the short history of mankind. Contrary to popular belief, it was not a nuclear explosion, which are impossible with nuclear reactors. Chernobyl released massive amounts of dangerous, unnatural, and exotic radioactive material into the environment, much of which was airborne and spread across the entire earth.

I've written a summary on Chernobyl, keeping it layman but hopefully with much more detail than what you'd find in a newspaper.