Yuri Gagarin

1934

Yuri Gagarin was born 9 March in the village of Klushino in the Smolensk region, 160 kilometres to the west of Moscow, on a collective farm.

1942

German artillery shells Klushino, blowing up the mill and the church. German occupation begins.

1943

Yuri’s brother Valentin and sister Zoya abducted by SS to labour camps in Gdansk, escaped, met with Russian troops, and conscripted into Red Army, following advance deep into Germany.

1944

German troops retreat from Klushino.

1945

Valentin & Zoya return home.

1946

Yuri inspired by ex-airman teacher.

1950

Aged 16, Gagarin began an apprenticeship as a foundryman at a steel plant in Lyubertsy, near Moscow.

1951

After graduating from both the seventh grade and the vocational school with honours in mouldmaking and foundry work, he was selected for further training at the Saratov Industrial Technical School, where he studied tractors. While in Saratov, Gagarin volunteered at a local flying club for weekend training as a Soviet air cadet, where he trained to fly a biplane, and later a Yak-18. He earned extra money as a part-time dock labourer on the Volga River.

1955

Gagarin was accepted to the 1st Chkalovsky Higher Air Force Pilots School, a flight school in Orenburg.

1957

Gagarin began flying solo and then was commissioned a lieutenant in the Soviet Air Forces having accumulated 166 hours and 47 minutes of flight time.

1959

He was rated Military Pilot 3rd Class and after expressing interest in space exploration following the launch of Luna 3 on 6 October 1959, his recommendation to the Soviet space programme was endorsed and forward by Lieutenant Colonel Babushkin. By this point, he had accumulated 265 hours of flight time. Gagarin was promoted to the rank of senior lieutenant and three weeks after he was interviewed by a medical commission for qualification to the space programme.

1961

On 12 April 1961, at 6:07 am UTC, the Vostok 3KA-3 (Vostok 1) spacecraft was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome. Aboard was Gagarin, the first human to travel into space, using the call sign Kedr (Russian: Кедр, Siberian pine or cedar). The radio communication between the launch control room and Gagarin included the following dialogue at the moment of rocket launch:

Korolev: Preliminary stage ... intermediate... main... LIFT-OFF! We wish you a good flight. Everything's all right.
Gagarin: Off we go! Goodbye, until [we meet] soon, dear friends.

Gagarin attends the May Day parade in Moscow and is later awarded the first British Interplanetary Society gold medal.

1968

While on a routine training flight from Chkalovsky Air Base, Gagarin and flight instructor Vladimir Seryogin died when their MiG-15UTI crashed near the town of Kirzhach. The bodies of Gagarin and Seryogin were cremated and their ashes interred in the walls of the Kremlin.