Today in History: April 12, Yuri Gagarin becomes first human in space

Guy54435

In this undated file photo, Soviet cosmonaut Major Yuri Gagarin, first man to orbit the earth, is shown in his space suit. His successful one-orbit flight on April 12, 1961 made the 27-year-old Gagarin a national hero and cemented Soviet supremacy in space until the United States put a man on the moon more than eight years later. (AP Photo)

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
April 12, 2025
Today in history:
On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, orbiting the earth once before landing safely via parachute after a planned ejection from his space capsule.

In 1861, the U.S. Civil War began as Confederate forces opened fire on Fort Sumter in South Carolina.

In 1945, President Franklin D. Roosevelt died of a cerebral hemorrhage in Warm Springs, Georgia, at age 63; he was succeeded by Vice President Harry S. Truman.

In 1954, Bill Haley and His Comets recorded “Rock Around the Clock,” a song often cited as bringing rock and roll music into the mainstream when it was popularized in the film “The Blackboard Jungle” the following year.

In 1955, the polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk was declared safe and effective following nearly a year of field trials undertaken by approximately 1.8 million American child volunteers dubbed “polio pioneers.”

In 1963, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and jailed in Birmingham, Alabama, charged with contempt of court and parading without a permit. (During his time behind bars, King wrote his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”)

In 1981, NASA Space Shuttle program began as Space Shuttle Columbia, the world’s first reusable spacecraft, lifted off from Kennedy Space Center.

Today’s Birthdays: Musician Herbie Hancock is 85. Musician John Kay (Steppenwolf) is 81. Actor Ed O’Neill is 79. TV host David Letterman is 78. Author Scott Turow is 76. Actor Andy Garcia is 69. Movie director Walter Salles (SAL’-ihs) is 69. Country musician Vince Gill is 68. Actor-comedian Retta is 55. Rock singer Nicholas Hexum (311) is 55. Actor Claire Danes is 46. Actor Jennifer Morrison is 46. Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard is 44. Model-actor Brooklyn Decker is 38. Actor-comedian Ilana Glazer is 38. Actor Saoirse (SUR’-shuh) Ronan is 31.

Beachie

In 2015 National Only Child Day was established. Always our turn and always our fault.

takeahike

Guy54435 In 1955, the polio vaccine developed by Jonas Salk was declared safe and effective following nearly a year of field trials undertaken by approximately 1.8 million American child volunteers dubbed “polio pioneers.”

As a child Salk lived just a few blocks from where I grew up in the Bronx and attended the same elementary school I went to, P. S. 44. He was also a graduate of my alma mater, CCNY, before going on to attend New York University medical school. Other respective famous and infamous attendees of P. S. 44 include Hank Greenberg and Lee Harvey Oswald. When growing up in the Bronx I had many friends who were victims of polio and who would have escaped the horrors they lived with for the rest of their lives had the miracle vaccine been available to them in time. Salk intentionally sought to gain absolutely nothing monetarily from his development of the vaccine because he feared that doing so would hinder its distribution throughout the world.

telcodad

takeahike … and attended the same elementary school I went to, P. S. 44.

Small world - I attended P.S.184 in Queens: https://ps184q.com/

Rook

When I google the High School I attended and “famous people” the first hit says “Bernard Madoff.”
There’s some Nobel laureates on the list and Dr. Joyce Brothers, but also Bernie Madoff. 🤔

telcodad

Rook When I google the High School I attended and “famous people” the first hit says “Bernard Madoff.”

When I did that the first hit said:

“Dave Valle an American former professional baseball player. He played as a catcher in Major League Baseball for the Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox, Milwaukee Brewers, and Texas Rangers from 1984 to 1996. In 1995, Valle founded Esperanza International, a microfinance-plus organization that serves families in poverty in the Dominican Republic.”