On April 12, 1961, a great moment in the history of mankind occurred - the first human space flight. Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin takes off at 9:00 from the Baikonour Cosmodrome and lands near Engels on the Volga after a complete orbit of the Earth.
Gagarin's reception on Earth marks a climax of the cosmic euphoria that had begun in the Soviet Union since the successful Sputnik flight in 1957. Gagarin became the first post-war hero.
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