Time and History 9:07 A.M. Yuri Gagarin Orbits Earth

About major and minor historical events around the clock such as when Yuri Gagarin orbitted the Earth in the first manned space flight starting at 9:07 in the morning.

HISTORY AROUND THE CLOCK

9:07 in the Morning

Apr. 12, 1961. Yuri Gagarin left the Soviet launching pad at Baykonur, Western Siberia, inside the 10,416-lb. spaceship Vostok 1 on the world's first successful manned space flight. His words after launch: "I am in good spirits. The machine works perfectly." The spaceship completed a single orbit of the earth in 89.34 minutes and landed in a field near the village of Smelovka in the Saratov region of the U.S.S.R. As he crossed the field, Gagarin met a young woman who had been caring for a calf. She screamed when she saw the strange monster approaching her, and cried out, "Who are you?" The cosmonaut politely doffed his space helmet and said, "A friend, a friend." Gagarin--whose name means "wild duck"--was only 5 ft. 2 in. tall.