Russians launch astronaut into orbit.
On this day Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin became the first human being to travel into space aboard spacecraft Vostok, which orbited the Earth at a maximum altitude of 187 miles. During the flight the 27 year old test pilot and industrial technician also became the first man to orbit the planet, a feat accomplished by his space capsule in 89 minutes. In total Gagarin was in space for one hour and 48 minutes.