September 26 belongs to Josi Mir

In September 1957, an accident at the Mayak nuclear processing plant in the Soviet Urals caused a chemical explosion that released enormous quantities of radioactive material. The disaster, known as the Kyshtym accident, affected more than 270,000 people and contaminated thousands of square kilometres. It was concealed by the USSR for decades.

On October 1, 1964, Japan inaugurated the Shinkansen, the world's first high-speed railway, to coincide with the Tokyo Olympics. It connected Tokyo and Osaka — 515 kilometres — in four hours at 210 km/h. The Japanese bullet train revolutionised rail transport and became the model for high-speed rail networks around the world.

On October 2, 1990, the last Soviet troops began their withdrawal from the German Democratic Republic, completing the process ahead of German reunification on October 3. The end of Soviet military presence on German soil marked the symbolic closure of forty-five years of division and the beginning of a new era for Europe.