The first person in space – it sounds, you will agree. After Gagarin, there were many other brave cosmonauts from different countries, but he forever wrote his name in the history of mankind, becoming the first of people to have been in outer space.
There is a version that Yuri Gagarin was born not on March 9, as indicated in his official biography, but in the last hours on March 8. The father of the future astronaut allegedly exclaimed, referring to the doctors: “Boy, was born on the holiday of women? Do not go, write down the ninth. ”
In the first year of the war Gagarin found a wounded Red Army soldier in the forest near his native village Klushino. The boy and his elder brother Valentin wore a soldier’s meal and bandaged his wounds.
Before flying into space, pilots from the cosmonaut detachment voted among themselves to choose the most worthy candidate. The winner was Yuri Gagarin.
Being in the cabin of the “East-1” while waiting for the flight, Gagarin listened to Okudzhava’s compositions.
During the landing, Yuri Gagarin nearly died of a shortage of air – when he catapulted, an air valve did not open in the suit, through which oxygen was to be supplied to the sealed suit. Fortunately, the problem was quickly resolved.
When the air began to flow into the suit, Gagarin had a new problem – he realized that he would fall into the cold Volga, if something did not happen urgently. Fortunately, the experienced pilot managed to steer the parachute to the side and land several kilometers from the river.
Before Gagarin’s flight, several messages for the media were compiled, taking into account any variants of the development of events: the successful space flight, the problems with the ship and its emergency landing, and the tragic death of the pilot.
When Yuri Gagarin went into space, he had the rank of senior lieutenant, and landed already a major – this was taken care of by General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev.
During the visit to the Queen of Britain, Yuri Gagarin was confused by the abundance of cutlery prepared for dinner. The Soviet pilot told the monarch directly that he grew up in the countryside, where only one device is used for a meal – a spoon. Elizabeth II replied that she had been raised in the palace since childhood, but she did not remember the purpose of all forks and knives. She took a spoon and began to eat delicious dishes with Gagarin.
They say that after the flight Khrushchev asked Gagarin whether he had seen the god in space. “I saw it,” the cosmonaut joked. “Then do not tell anyone about this,” retorted the Secretary General. History was repeated at a reception with the Pope, but this time Gagarin replied that he had not seen God. “Do not tell anyone about this,” the pontiff said.
When Yuri Gagarin came to his native village, local grandmothers asked the cosmonaut to remove his cap – the women wanted to check the bike that after the flight he had become bald and had to wear a wig. The rumors were a mere invention.
When Gagarin died in 1968, his wife Valentina was not yet 33 years old, but she no longer married.
The first daughter of Gagarin, Elena, heads the museum complex of the Moscow Kremlin. His youngest daughter, Galina, teaches at the Plekhanov Academy. She called her son Yuri.
Gagarin was an enthusiastic theatergoer and often went not only to performances, but also to rehearsals, where he was readily invited. During the performances, the audience always applauded twice – first to the artists, and then to the first cosmonaut of the Earth.
Another fashionable hairstyle of the beauties of the USSR – pigtails with bows on their side – received the popular name “Love Me, Gagarin!”. When the pilot himself heard about this, he laughed for a long time and sincerely.
