Yuri Alekseevich Gagarin (1934 — 1968) was a Soviet cosmonaut, the first person to fly into space. Hero of the Soviet Union.
On the 12th of April, 1961 Gagarin flew into space for the first time in the world on the "Vostok" spacecraft. He flew around the globe in 1 hour 48 minutes and returned safely to Earth.
Nowadays day of Gagarin's space flight is a national holiday in Russia.