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On April 12, 1961, the world changed. For the first time in human history, a person broke free from Earth and ventured into space. That person was Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin, a citizen of the Soviet Union, who forever entered history as the first cosmonaut of the planet.

Yuri Gagarin was born in the small village of Klushino in the Smolensk region in 1934. His childhood was far from easy: he began attending school only in 1943, after the village was liberated from Nazi occupation. However, thanks to his persistence and curiosity, he pursued his education despite the difficulties — first at a trade school, then at a technical college, all while attending an aviation club.

It was this passion for aviation that became a turning point in his life. After technical school, he enrolled in the Orenburg Military Aviation School, where he earned his pilot license and began his military service. But his ambitions reached even higher — in 1959, he applied to join the cosmonaut training program.

Following a strict selection process and intensive training, on April 12, 1961, Yuri Gagarin launched into the sky aboard the Vostok-1 spacecraft. The flight lasted only 108 minutes, but it was enough to open the way to the cosmos for all of humanity. Gagarin landed safely near Saratov, and his legendary words — “Poyekhali!” (“Let’s go!”) — became a symbol of the beginning of a new space era.

After the flight, Gagarin became not just a national hero, but a global symbol of hope, courage, and scientific progress. He traveled to many countries, met with politicians, scientists, and ordinary people. At the same time, he continued his studies, became the deputy head of the Cosmonaut Training Center, and even prepared for a new mission aboard the Soyuz spacecraft.

Sadly, on March 27, 1968, during a training flight, Yuri Gagarin tragically died. They say that he was helped to pass away. Who knows? The circumstances of the crash remain unclear to this day. But his image — smiling, iconic, real — has remained in the memory of millions.

Gagarin proved to the world that humanity’s dream of space was real. His flight became the first step into the interstellar age. And today, as we remember that day, we honor not only the technological achievement — but the man who wasn’t afraid… and flew first.