Yuri Gagarin

Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin (Russian: Ю́рий Алексе́евич Гага́рин, Yuriy Alekseyevich Gagarin IPA: ; 9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968), Hero of the Soviet Union, was a Soviet cosmonaut. On 12 April 1961, he became the first man in space and the first to orbit the Earth. He also received many medals from his home country for his pioneering tour in space.