Happy Birthday Carol Burnett–81 Jet Li Lian Jie( 李連杰) –51 Kevin George “James” Knipfing–49 Thomas “Tom” Welling–37 Channing Tatum–34 ; 1986 – A nuclear reactor accident occurs at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in the Soviet Union (now Ukraine), creating the world’s worst nuclear disaster. An explosion and fire in the No. 4 reactor sent radioactivity into the atmosphere; at least 31 people died immediately.