Happy Gagarin Day!
Forty-four years ago today, Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin became the first person to fly in space.
There’s a fascinating anecdote from Doug Higley at the Encyclopedia of Astrobiology, Astronomy, and Spaceflight. Higley was with the US Army Security Agency unit tasked with monitoring Russian missiles on the day Gagarin flew. Or read up on the Yu. A. Gagarin Russian State Scientific-Research and Test Centre of Cosmonaut Training.
(Tip of the hat to Eugene Volokh.)