Cosmonautics Day

Cosmonautics Day День космонавтики Den kosmonavtiki
1965 Soviet postage stamp commemorating Cosmonautics Day
Observed by	Russia, former USSR
Type	Historical
Significance	A celebration to commemorate the first manned earth orbit
Date	12 April
Next time	12 April 2018 (2018-04-12)
Frequency	annual
Related to	Yuri's Night

Cosmonautics Day (Russian: День Космона́втики, Den Kosmonavtiki) is an anniversary celebrated in Russia and some other former USSR countries on 12 April. In Poland an "International Day of Aviation and Cosmonautics" (Polish: Międzynarodowy Dzień Lotnictwa i Kosmonautyki) is celebrated on the same day. In 2011, 12 April was declared as the International Day of Human Space Flight in dedication of the first manned space flight made on 12 April 1961 by the 27-year-old Russian Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. Gagarin circled the Earth for 1 hour and 48 minutes aboard the Vostok 1 spacecraft.

The commemorative day was established in the Soviet Union one year later, on 9 April 1962. In modern Russia, it is celebrated in accordance with Article 1.1 of the Law "On the Days of Military Glory and the Commemorative Dates in Russia".

Gagarin's flight was a triumph for the Soviet space program, and opened a new era in the history of space exploration. Gagarin became a national hero of the Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc and a famous figure around the world. Major newspapers around the globe published his biography and details of his flight. Moscow and other cities in the USSR held mass demonstrations, the scale of which was second only to World War II Victory Parades. Gagarin was escorted in a long motorcade of high-ranking officials through the streets of Moscow to the Kremlin where, in a lavish ceremony, he was awarded the highest Soviet honour, the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, by the Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev.