On April 12, Russia celebrates Cosmonautics Day. This holiday was established by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated April 9, 1962 in honor of the world's first manned space flight.
On April 12, 1961, the world's first spacecraft-satellite "Vostok" with a man on board was launched into earth orbit. The launch of the world's first manned spacecraft was supervised by Sergei Korolev, Anatoly Kirillov, Leonid Voskresensky.
Pilot Major Yuri Gagarin became the pilot-cosmonaut of the spacecraft. The rocket was launched successfully, and after gaining speed and separating from the last stage of the launch vehicle, the spacecraft began free flight in orbit around the Earth.