Photo: Roman Kubanskiy, FAL

Yuri Gagarin

1934 – 1968 · died at about 34^[1][2]

Exploration

Fun Facts About Yuri Gagarin

• Yuri Gagarin did not land inside his spacecraft. He ejected at about 7,000 meters and parachuted down, and Soviet officials at first refused to admit it.^[1]
• Gagarin twice struggled to land a trainer aircraft and nearly lost his place in pilot school, until his instructor gave him a cushion to sit on so he could see out.^[1]
• When the cosmonaut candidates voted anonymously for who should fly first, all but three of them chose Gagarin.^[1]
• Gagarin was so popular that President John F. Kennedy barred him from visiting the United States.^[1][3][4]
• Gagarin probably never said "I don't see any god up here". The words do not appear in the record of his flight, and a friend traced them to a Khrushchev speech.^[1]
• On Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left a memorial satchel on the Moon containing medals commemorating Gagarin and Komarov.^[1][5][6]
• Yuri Gagarin was alive at the same time as Maxim Gorky — their lives overlapped for 2 years (1934–1936).^[1][2][7][8]
• Yuri Gagarin and Carl Sagan were both born in 1934.^{[1][2][9][10]}

Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who, aboard the first successful crewed spaceflight, became the first person to journey into outer space. Travelling on Vostok 1, Gagarin completed one orbit of Earth on 12 April 1961, with his flight taking 108 minutes. By achieving this major milestone for the Soviet Union amidst the Space Race, he became an international celebrity and was awarded many medals and titles, including his country's highest distinction: Hero of the Soviet Union.^[1]

Contemporaries

Pablo Picasso

34 yr overlap

Igor Stravinsky

34 yr overlap

Coco Chanel

34 yr overlap

Georgia O'Keeffe

34 yr overlap

Charlie Chaplin

34 yr overlap

Ho Chi Minh

34 yr overlap

Agatha Christie

34 yr overlap

Dwight D. Eisenhower

34 yr overlap

Charles de Gaulle

34 yr overlap

Haile Selassie

34 yr overlap

J.R.R. Tolkien

34 yr overlap

Mao Zedong

34 yr overlap

Their World

Questions About Yuri Gagarin

When was Yuri Gagarin born?

Yuri Gagarin was born on March 9, 1934, and died on March 27, 1968.

How old was Yuri Gagarin at death?

Yuri Gagarin was born on March 9, 1934, and died on March 27, 1968, at age 34.

What was Yuri Gagarin known for?

Yuri Gagarin was known for: First human in space. Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who, aboard the first successful crewed spaceflight, became the first person to journey into outer space. Travelling on Vostok 1, Gagarin completed one orbit of Earth on 12 April 1961, with his flight taking 108 minutes. By achieving this major milestone for the Soviet Union amidst the Space Race, he became an international celebrity and was awarded many medals and titles, including his country's highest distinction: Hero of the Soviet Union.

Who was alive at the same time as Yuri Gagarin?

Yuri Gagarin's closest contemporary was Pablo Picasso. Their lives overlapped for 34 years.