17.12.2022
The first man in space – that sounds like a lot, don’t you agree? After Gagarin there were many other courageous cosmonauts from different countries, but he forever inscribed his name in the history of mankind, becoming the first man in outer space.
Interesting facts about Gagarin’s life.
1. There is a version that Yuri Gagarin was not born on March 9, as stated in his official biography, but in the last hours of March 8. The father of the future cosmonaut allegedly exclaimed, turning to doctors: “Boy, was he born on a holiday of women? No way, write down the ninth number”.
2. In the first year of the war Gagarin found a wounded Red Army man in the woods near his native village of Klushino. The boy and his older brother Valentin carried the soldier food and bandaged his wounds.
3. Before flying into space the pilots of the cosmonaut squad organized a vote among themselves to choose the most worthy candidate. Yuri Gagarin was the winner.
4. While in the cockpit of the “Vostok-1”, waiting for the flight, Gagarin listened to songs by Okudzhava.
5. During the landing, Yuri Gagarin almost died of lack of air – when he ejected, the air valve in his spacesuit did not open, through which oxygen was supposed to flow into the pressurized suit. Fortunately, the problem was quickly fixed.
6. When the spacesuit began to receive air, Gagarin had a new problem – he realized that he would fall into the cold Volga unless he did something urgently. Fortunately, the experienced pilot managed to direct his parachute sideways and land a few kilometers away from the river.
7. Before Gagarin’s flight, several media reports were compiled, taking into account any variants of events: about the successful space flight, about problems with the ship and its emergency landing, as well as about the tragic death of the pilot.
8. When Yuri Gagarin went into space, he had the military rank of senior lieutenant, but landed as a major – this was taken care of by General Secretary Nikita Khrushchev.
9. During a visit to the Queen of Britain, Yuri Gagarin was confused by the abundance of cutlery prepared for dinner. The Soviet pilot bluntly told the monarch that he grew up in the countryside, where the only instrument used to eat was a spoon. Elizabeth replied that she had been brought up in the palace as a child but had never learned the purpose of all the forks and knives. She took a spoon and began to eat with it the exquisite dishes along with Gagarin.
10. It is said that after the flight Khrushchev asked Gagarin if he had seen God in space. “I did,” the cosmonaut joked. “Then don’t tell anyone about it,” retorted the general secretary. The story was repeated at the Pope’s reception, but this time Gagarin replied that he had not seen God. “Don’t tell anyone about it,” the pontiff allegedly replied.
11. When Yuri Gagarin arrived in his native village, the local grandmothers asked the cosmonaut to take off his cap – the women wanted to check the story that after the flight he went bald and had to wear a wig. The rumors turned out to be simple fiction.
12. When Gagarin died in 1968, his wife Valentina was not yet 33 years old, but she never married again.
13. Gagarin’s first daughter, Elena, heads the museum complex of the Moscow Kremlin. His younger daughter, Galina, teaches at the Plekhanov Academy. She named her son Yuri.
14. Gagarin was an enthusiastic theatergoer and often went not only to plays, but also to rehearsals, where he was willingly invited. During performances, the audience always applauded twice – first the artists, and then the first cosmonaut of the Earth.
15. Another fashionable hairstyle of Soviet beauties – pigtails with bows on the side – was popularly called “Love me, Gagarin! When the pilot heard about it, he laughed heartily for a long time.
