BORN:

1723 - Franz Anton (Francesco Antonio) BUSTELLI
/Franz Anton (Francesco Antonio) BUSTELLI/
(1723 — 18.4.1763), porcelain maker of the Rococo era. Parents - Italians, place of birth - Switzerland, place of work - Germany.

1823 - Alexander Nikolaevich OSTROVSKY
(1823 — 14.6.1886), playwright, author of 47 plays, including "Thunderstorm", "Forest", "Dowry", "Talents and Admirers".

A. N. Ostrovsky remained in the history of Russian literature not just as the “Columbus of Zamoskvorechye”, as literary criticism called him, but the creator of the Russian democratic theater, who applied the achievements of Russian psychological prose of the 19th century. to theater practice. This outstanding playwright is a rare example of stage longevity, his plays do not leave the stage - this is a sign of a truly folk writer. Many of his works were filmed or served as the basis for the creation of film and television scripts. Among the film adaptations most popular in Russia is Konstantin VOINOV's sparkling comedy Balzaminov's Marriage (1964, starring Georgy Vitsin). The movie "Cruel Romance", brilliantly shot by Eldar Ryazanov based on "Dowry" (1984), is admirable. In 2005, director Yevgeny GINZBURG received the main prize (Grand Prix "Garnet Bracelet") of the eleventh Russian Festival "Literature and Cinema" (Gatchina) "for an incredible interpretation of the great play by A. N. Ostrovsky" Guilty Without Guilt "in the film" Anna "(2005, script by G. DANELIA and R. IBRAGIMBEKOV; starring opera singer L. KAZARNOVSKAYA).

1839, 170 years ago - Nikolai Mikhailovich PRZHEVALSKY
(1839 — 1.11.1888), Russian traveler and naturalist. Full member of the Russian Geographical Society (1864). Undertook several expeditions to Central Asia. In 1878 he was elected an honorary member of the Academy of Sciences. Major General (1886).

The Academy of Sciences and scientific societies around the world welcomed Przewalski's discoveries. The Zagadochny Ridge discovered by him is called the Przhevalsky Ridge. His greatest merits are the geographical and natural-historical study of the Kun-Lun mountain system, the ranges of Northern Tibet, the Lop-Nor and Kuku-Nor basins, and the sources of the Yellow River. In addition, he discovered a number of new forms of animals: a wild camel, Przewalski's horse, a Tibetan bear, a number of new species of other mammals, as well as huge zoological and botanical collections containing many new forms, later described by specialists. Being a well-educated naturalist, Przhevalsky was at the same time a born wanderer who preferred a lonely steppe life to all the benefits of civilization. Thanks to his persistent, resolute nature, he overcame the opposition of Chinese officials and the resistance of local residents, sometimes reaching open attacks and skirmishes. The Academy of Sciences awarded Przhevalsky with a medal with the inscription: "To the first researcher of the nature of Central Asia."

1850 - Nikolai Dmitrievich GOLITSYN
(1850 — 2.7.1925), prince, the last prime minister of tsarist Russia. He stayed in this position for a little over two months.

After the October Revolution, he was arrested several times and was eventually shot.

1866 - Sergey Nikolaevich MYASOEDOV
(1866 — 31.3.1915), gendarmerie colonel.

There were grounds for accusing the colonel of many sins, but they hanged him for espionage, in which he was not involved. It was one of the loudest cases of that time, since Myasoedov turned out to be the smallest fry in it.

For the first time he was accused of espionage back in 1912, and then everything ended with a duel between the gendarmerie officer and the leader of the Octobrist party A. I. Guchkov, who made a report “On the disclosure of a spy organization” in the State Duma. Newspapers that had previously accused the colonel published denials. With the outbreak of the World War and the subsequent defeats of the Russian army, the version of espionage arose again. To the former enemies of the colonel, a new, even more powerful one was added - the supreme commander in chief, Grand Duke NIKOLAI NIKOLAEVICH. Myasoedov was used as a means to topple Minister of War V. A. SUKHOMLINOV, whom the Grand Duke tried with all his might to destroy in order to blame him for all the failures. In early March, Myasoedov was arrested (as well as his wife, all close and distant acquaintances), and on March 31 a trial took place. All the charges were very doubtful, but the colonel's fate was sealed. The performers were in such a hurry that they first hanged the convict and only then approved the verdict. Myasoedov tried to commit suicide before his execution by cutting the carotid artery, but he was given medical assistance, brought to his senses, in order to be immediately executed. The head of counterintelligence, Colonel BATYUSHIN, will not be placed in the general's turn. General M. D. Bonch-Bruevich, who led the investigation, will be appointed Chief of Staff of the 6th Army and will be honored with a walk arm in arm with the Supreme Commander. Sukhomlinov was dismissed from the post of minister, later arrested and placed in the Peter and Paul Fortress. Already under the Provisional Government, he was sentenced to indefinite hard labor, although most of the accusations were not confirmed, including treason. The prosecutor in his case will say: “What they (Myasoedov and others arrested with him) did, what was found from them, on the basis of what data they were convicted, we do not know and cannot know.” And he will continue that they were convicted, and some were hanged, but the court does not execute innocent people. The former minister will be lucky: according to the amnesty announced by the Soviet government, he will be released and go into exile.

1866 - Alexander Ilyich ULYANOV
(1866 — 20.5.1887), People's Revolutionary, elder brother of V. I. LENIN.

Alexander Ulyanov participated in illegal student meetings, demonstrations, conducted propaganda in the workers' circle. In December 1886, together with P. Ya. The members of the "Fraction" experienced, on the one hand, the influence of the works of Karl MARX, Friedrich ENGELS, Georgy PLEKHANOV, and the program documents of the "Narodnaya Volya" proper. In February 1887, Ulyanov drew up a program for the "Terrorist Faction".
On March 1, 1887, the "Terrorist Faction" planned to carry out an attempt on the life of Emperor ALEXANDER III, but the attempt was prevented, and the organizers and participants in the amount of 15 people were arrested. On April 15-19, a trial was held at which ULYANOV, SHEVYREV, ANDREYUSHKIN, GENERALOV and OSIPANOV were sentenced to death, and the rest to various terms of hard labor and further exile.
Alexander's mother, Maria Alexandrovna, wrote a petition to Alexander III for clemency and received permission to visit her son.

Alexander Ulyanov himself was asked to ask the emperor for clemency, but he refused this opportunity. According to prosecutor Knyazev, who was present at the last meeting between mother and son, Alexander said the following on this meeting: “Imagine, mother, two are facing each other in a duel. One has already shot his opponent, the other has not yet, and the one who has already fired appeals to the enemy with a request not to use the weapon. No, I can't do that."

On May 8 (20), 1887, Alexander Ulyanov and his comrades were hanged in the Shlisselburg fortress.

After his execution, 17-year-old Vladimir Ulyanov (soon - Lenin) said: "We will go the other way."

1887 - Elizaveta Ivanovna VASILIEVA / dev. DMITRIEVA, pseudonym Cherubina de GABRIAC/
(1887 - December 5, 1928), poetess, participant in one of the loudest literary hoaxes.

Her star flared up for a moment and immediately died out, followed by Akhmatova and Tsvetaeva. And if Marina accepted her, then Akhmatova never forgave her for the story with Gumilev.

1888 - Heinrich Gustavovich NEIGAUZ
(1888 — 10.10.1964), pianist, teacher, People's Artist of the RSFSR. His students were Svyatoslav RICHTER and Emil Gilels.

1912 - Efim Zakharovich KOPELYAN
(1912 — 6.3.1975), theater and film actor, People's Artist of the USSR. He gave 40 years to the Leningrad Bolshoi Drama Theatre, and the cinema remembered his roles in such films of different genres as The Elusive Avengers, Crime and Punishment, Straw Hat.

And the work in the television series "Seventeen Moments of Spring" became completely special, where the author's text, uttered by his unforgettable voice, sounds behind the scenes.

1921 - James DOHERTY
/James DOUGHERTY/
(1921 — 15.8.2005) , Marilyn Monroe's first husband.

Everyone called him Jim back then, and her full name was Norma Jean BAKER. She had just turned 16, she was an ordinary girl from a small town, no star or blonde. She called him Daddy, he went to sea, and in 1946, four years later, they separated. A year later, she will get her first role, and he will become a policeman and give the service a quarter of a century. He will be married twice more, but he will only talk about his first love years later, and in 1997 the book he wrote, Norma Jean with Love, Jimmy, will be published. He will outlive everyone - and who was with him, and who was with her.

1922 - Harold WASHINGTON
/Harold WASHINGTON/
(1922 — 25.11.1987), first black mayor of Chicago (1983–87).

According to various estimates, from 200 to 500 thousand people came to say goodbye to him. Some of the city's educational and cultural institutions are named after him.

1931 - Leonid Pavlovich DERBENYOV
(1931 — 22.6.1995), songwriter.

Having worked as a lawyer for five years after graduating from the institute, he then devotes himself entirely to creativity: he writes for films (“Song about Bears”, “Island of Bad Luck”, “Song about Hares”, “Volcano of Passions” in Gaidai’s comedies), collaborates with many famous composers , already known and just starting their way performers. Among his most famous works are “The best city on earth”, “There is only a moment”, “Kings can do everything”, “The half-educated magician”, “You, I know you exist in the world”, “City flowers”, “Don't worry , uncle".

1931 - Vitaly Titovich KORZHIKOV
(1931 — 26.1.2007), poet, children's writer. He himself sailed all the seas and oceans on ships, therefore it is no coincidence that the first book with his main character was called "Solnyshkin's Merry Navigation".

1933 - Maria de MONTSERRAT VIVIANA CONCEPTION CABALE and FOLK
/Maria de MONTSERRAT VIVIANA CONCEPCION CABALIE i FOLC/, outstanding Spanish Catalan opera singer (soprano). The world knows her as Montserrat CABALE. She is best known for her bel canto technique and her performances in classical Italian operas by ROSSINI, BELLINI and DONIZETTI.

Rock music lovers are known for their joint album with Queen vocalist Freddie Mercury - "Barcelona" (1988). The title song, dedicated to Caballe's hometown of Barcelona, ​​became the official song of the 1992 Summer Olympics, held in the capital of Catalonia.

1937 - Igor Petrovich VOLK, cosmonaut, Honored Test Pilot of the USSR, Hero of the Soviet Union.

The famous Mikhail GROMOV, speaking about the flying skills of the Wolf, made the following comparison: “As much as I flew better than Nesterov, so much the Wolf flies better than me!” He was accepted into the space detachment specifically for the training of astronauts under the Buran program, which, unfortunately, was never implemented.

1940 - Mikhail Nikolaevich ROMADIN, People's Artist of Russia. Son of Nikolai ROMADIN. He worked in cinema together with Andron KONCHALOVSKY ("The First Teacher", "The Story of Asya Klyachina ..") and Andrei TARKOVSKY ("Solaris"), in his youth he was fond of abstract and surrealistic painting. Then the father did not understand this hobby, kicking his son’s paintings with his feet, but then they reconciled: “You are a great draftsman, and I am a brilliant artist.”

1944, 65 years ago - John KAY / Joachim CRAULEDAT /
/John KAY/, leader and vocalist of the American band Steppenwolf.

He was born in East Prussia, so the inhabitants of Sovetsk (then called Tilsit) can rightfully consider him their countryman. His father died during the war, his mother managed to move to West Germany with her son in 1948, and ten years later Joachim emigrated to Canada with his mother and stepfather. The school teacher could not pronounce his name and called the teenager John, and later he took another surname for himself. In 1963, the family moved to the United States, where John began to perform as a folk artist. In 1964, he became a member of the popular Toronto group The Sparrow, after the collapse of which in 1967 he founded a new group in Los Angeles called Steppenwolf, named after the famous novel Steppenwolf by Hermann HESSE. In the late 60s and early 70s, the group was one of the most popular hard rock bands in America, and their most famous song Born to Be Wild reached number two in the US charts. Sunglasses were a distinctive feature of John's appearance, since he almost lost his sight as a child.

1946 - Viktor Nikolaevich DOTSENKO, Russian director, actor, writer.

1947 - Tom CLANCY
/Tom CLANCY/, American writer, author of action-packed works.

There is no need to list what he wrote, since all this is immediately translated into other languages ​​and filmed even faster. The main character is Jack Ryan (screen incarnation - Harrison FORD), who alone will defeat any special forces, beat all the intelligence of the world, and, if necessary, will cope with the duties of the president. Who else would be accused of glorifying American power, chauvinism (no one else has such confidence in his superiority and impunity, as well as the baseness and deceit of the enemy, in the role of which the rest of the world), but Clancy is forgiven everything because of the ability to clothe his plots into an interesting form. Moreover, sometimes he also acts as a visionary, in fact predicting the events of September 11 in his novel "Debt of Honor" one to one. Only such a hit did not bring joy to anyone.

1949, 60 years ago - Yuri Dmitrievich KUKLACHEV, Soviet, Russian clown, People's Artist of Russia. Gained fame, being the first in the USSR to engage in circus work with cats. Founder and director of the Cat Theatre.

Yuri Dmitrievich himself says that he does not train cats, but simply works with them. The clown sees some peculiarity, talent in any particular cat and then develops these features in it. Kuklachev claims that cats are just like people: there are more talented ones, and there are less talented ones.

1949 - Scott TUROW
/ScottTUROW/, American lawyer and writer. Once every three years, he creates thrillers that are willingly filmed on the big and television screens. The film "The Presumption of Innocence" with Harrison Ford in the lead role brought him the greatest popularity, and in 2004 his novel "Personal Damage" was translated into Russian.

1961 - Yuri Nikolaevich GALTSEV, an eccentric artist, a man with a rubber face.

Do not even try to define the genre in which he performs, because next time he will still surprise you. And in honor of whom he was given a name, it is very easy to guess. What could be the name of the newborn on April 12, 1961? .. :)

1962 - Mikhail Borisovich TURETSKY, founder, artistic director and art director of an art group known as the Turetsky Choir.

In 1989, M. B. Turetsky began recruiting soloists for the Male Chamber Jewish Choir of the Moscow Choral Synagogue. Among the recruited participants were university graduates, students and students. At the first stage, the choir was financed by the charitable American organization "Joint". The choir was transformed into a professional team, went on tour abroad.

In 2003, the choir acquires a modern name: Art Group Turetsky Choir. This happened during a concert dedicated to the day of Ukraine and Russia. The band's repertoire is also changing. Jewish liturgy (for example, "Kaddish" or "Kol Nidrei"), songs in Yiddish and Hebrew form an essential, but not the main part of the program. There are works of Western and Russian variety art, urban folklore (for example, "Murka"), opera arias, Orthodox liturgy (for example, the prayer "Our Father"). In his book "Chorus Master" Mikhail Turetsky wrote that he did not immediately find an understanding of these changes among his colleagues in the team, but gradually all the soloists agreed with the change in the repertoire.

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DEVELOPMENTS:

1272 - Master of the Teutonic Order Walter VON NORDEK conquered Mezoten (modern Mezotne) from the Latvian tribe of Semigallians.

Ernst VON RASBURG, who replaced him next year as master, continuing the expansion of the Order to the east and moving upstream of the Western Dvina, in 1275 will erect the Dinaburg fortress, but it will take about half a century to consider these lands finally conquered.

1487 - The Moscow army set out on a campaign against Kazan.

IVAN III, who did so much to strengthen the Russian state, had been at war with the Kazan Khanate for the twentieth year. Each new campaign was prepared more and more carefully, and more forces were gathered. The goal of all these efforts was not to conquer, to conquer the khanate, but to ensure Kazan's loyalty to Moscow: not to fight against Russia, not to interfere with trade, for which purpose to put your supporter on the throne, and not the enemy.

1606 - By decree of the English King JACOB I, who was also the King of Scotland JACOB VI, a new flag was introduced, later called the "Union Jack".

Since England and Scotland were then independent states, the flag was used as an additional flag on the ships of both countries to show that they serve the same sovereign.

1861 - With the bombing and capture of Fort Sumter by the southerners (April 12-14), the American Civil War began.

1918 - Since the evening of April 11, preparations began in Moscow for getting rid of the anarchist gangs that terrorized the city. At 3 o'clock in the morning on April 12, a raid was made on 26 anarchist nests at once. The operation was a complete success: the anarchists were driven out of all the houses they captured, lost all their weapons and loot. More than a hundred of them were killed in skirmishes, and five hundred people were arrested. In the afternoon, the British and American envoys in Moscow, LOCKART and ROBBINS, at the invitation of Dzerzhinsky, drove around the scene in a car provided to them with an armed escort. The escort was Dzerzhinsky's assistant, the Latvian PETERS, the future jailer of Robert Bruce LOCKART, who was accused of organizing a conspiracy against Soviet Russia. According to Lockhart, the abomination that reigned there was beyond description. The bodies have not yet been removed. Among those killed were officers in guard uniforms, students - young men no more than 20 years old, as well as typical criminals who were released from prisons by the revolution. In one of the houses, the anarchists were caught in the midst of an orgy. A young woman with loose hair lay face down on the floor. She was shot in the neck. Peters turned her over, shrugged his shoulders and said: "Prostitute ... exhausted ..."

1918 - A decree of the Council of People's Commissars on the monuments of the republic was issued.

From the decree: “In commemoration of the great upheaval that transformed Russia, the Council of People's Commissars decides:

1) Monuments erected in honor of the kings and their servants and not of interest either from a historical or artistic point of view, are subject to removal from squares and streets and partly transferred to warehouses, partly used for a utilitarian nature ...

3) ... To mobilize artistic forces and organize a wide competition for the development of projects for monuments that should commemorate the great days of the Russian Socialist Revolution.

1919, 90 years ago - The workers of the Moscow-Sortirovochnaya depot repaired three steam locomotives for free on a day off. The initiative was widely picked up, and a new word “subbotnik” appeared in the dictionary - gratuitous work for the good of the country, which was completely discredited in subsequent years.

Saturday is not bad, right? .. :)

1942 - Singer Claudia SHULZHENKO for the first time performed the song "Blue Handkerchief" to the words written by Mikhail MAKSIMOV. With this text (“The machine gunner is scribbling / For a blue handkerchief, / What was on the shoulders of dear ones!”), The song became one of the most beloved both at the front and in the rear. It happened at a concert for the military railway workers of the Volkhov depot. The first listeners awarded the singer and poet with a gift unprecedented in front-line conditions - a piece of cake and a glass of cranberries!

The song was written by the composer Jerzy PETERSBURGSKI, who fled from Poland captured by the Nazis (by the way, the author of the almost equally famous tango “Burnt Sun”), it was included in the repertoire of many performers and had more than one poetic version. Shulzhenko also performed it with success, but the song became famous and beloved by everyone with a new text, which was composed by an employee of the newspaper "In the Decisive Battle" of the 54th Army of the Volkhov Front, Lieutenant Mikhail MAKSIMOV.

He was instructed to write a note about the concert of the singer, who from the first days of the war performed in front of the soldiers and residents of besieged Leningrad, along with her ensemble - the front-line jazz orchestra of the Leningrad Military District, which she herself led together with her husband, artist Vladimir KORALLI. Upon learning that the young man was composing poetry, Klavdia Ivanovna asked me to come up with other words for the song that took the soul. In the morning, the front-line version was ready, the song immediately found a response and since then has been performed at every concert of the singer. Later, according to rumors, fate brought the composer to South America, and Maximov became the chef of one of the Leningrad restaurants.

1954, 55 years ago - Bill Haley recorded a record with the song Rock Around the Clock. The song was written back in 1952, but its success in both cases was very modest. It wasn't until the following year that a re-release took Bill Haley and his band the Comets to number one on the charts.

1956 - Alexander FEINTZIMMER's film "The Gadfly" with Oleg STRIZHENOV in the title role was released.

1961 - At 09:07 am Moscow time From the Baikonur cosmodrome, the Vostok spacecraft with a man on board was launched. This man's name was Yuri Alekseevich GAGARIN.

Having completed one revolution around the Earth at 10:55:34 at 108 minutes, the spacecraft completed its scheduled flight (one second earlier than planned). Gagarin's call sign was "Kedr". Due to a failure in the braking system, the descent vehicle with Gagarin landed not in the planned area 110 km from Stalingrad, but in the Saratov region, not far from Engels, and no one expected such a distinguished guest there. At 10:48 a.m., a radar at a nearby military airport spotted an unidentified target - it was a descent vehicle - and a little later, 7 km from the ground, in accordance with the flight plan, Gagarin ejected, and two targets appeared on the radar.

The first people who met the astronaut after the flight were the forester's wife Anna Akimovna TAKHTAROVA and her six-year-old granddaughter Rita. Soon, soldiers from a nearby unit arrived at the scene. One group of military men guarded the descent vehicle, while the other group took Gagarin to the location of the unit. From there, Gagarin reported by phone to the commander of the air defense division: “Please tell the Air Force Commander-in-Chief: I completed the task, landed in a given area, I feel good, there are no bruises or breakdowns. Gagarin.
By noon, two planes arrived at the Engels airfield from Baikonur: Il-18 and An-10, on which the deputy commander of the Air Force, Lieutenant General AGALTSOV, and a group of journalists arrived. For three hours, while establishing contact with Moscow, Gagarin gave interviews and photographed. With the advent of communication, he personally reported to BREZHNEV and KHRUSHCHEV about the flight. After the report, Gagarin boarded an Il-14 plane and flew to Samara (then Kuibyshev). It was decided to sit somewhere away from the city in order to avoid the hype. But while the engine was turned off and the gangway was being installed, the people gathered incredibly, the local party leadership drove up. When the ladder was mounted, Gagarin was the first to get off the plane, he greeted the audience. Gagarin was taken to the obkom dacha on the banks of the Volga. There he took a shower and ate well. Three hours after Gagarin, Korolev and several other people from the State Commission flew to Samara. At 9 pm, a festive table was laid and Gagarin's successful flight into space was celebrated. And already at 11 everyone was asleep: the accumulated fatigue affected.

Three TASS reports were prepared about Gagarin's flight into space. The first is “Successful”, the second, in case he falls on the territory of another country or in the oceans, is “Appeal to the governments of other countries”, asking for help in the search, and the third is “Tragic”, if Gagarin does not return alive. He is back. By the way, while in flight, I dashed off a note with a simple pencil, which became part of the big history of the Big Country.

Initially, no one planned a grand meeting of Gagarin in Moscow. Everything was decided at the last moment by Nikita Khrushchev. His son Sergei Khrushchev recalled: “He began by calling the Minister of Defense Marshal MALINOVSKII and saying: “He is your senior lieutenant. He needs to be promoted urgently." Malinovsky said, rather reluctantly, that he would give Gagarin the rank of captain. To which Nikita Sergeevich got angry: “What captain? At least give him a major.” Malinovsky did not agree for a long time, but Khrushchev insisted on his own, and on the same day Gagarin became a major.

1966 - American B-52 strategic bombers bombed the territory of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam for the first time. At that time, there was no talk of pinpoint strikes, “carpet” bombing was used, after which nothing remained intact and intact.

1979, 30 years ago- Audiences in Australia were the first to see the film "Mad Max", which began the path to world fame for Mel Gibson.

1985 - The appearance of Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin in Moscow - the appointment of the head of the construction department of the Central Committee of the CPSU.

1995 - Launched Yahoo!, quickly becoming one of the world's most popular Internet users.

Man has always looked to the sky. He imagined distant worlds, talked about the existence of higher beings living somewhere far, far away, came up with hypotheses-legends about creatures from heaven. And only a few decades ago, people were able to look beyond the horizon for the first time.

April 12, 1961 is the day that changed the history of all mankind. It was on this day that the inhabitants of the Earth challenged the cosmos.

How it all began?

People dreamed of stars for a long time, but the first attempts to reach them began only in 1957, when the first artificial satellite was launched. In November of the same year, the dog Laika went into space, it was with her that the study of the effect of weightlessness on living organisms began. True, she was no longer destined to return to her native planet. Experiments with overcoming weightlessness continued with launches of the Sun, the famous flight of Belka and Strelka, the launch of a rocket to Venus, and the establishment of communication with objects far from the Earth. Colossal work was carried out, huge money was invested in the development of a new science - astronautics, and the result for all mankind, who had not been particularly interested in the conquest of extraterrestrial space before, was April 12, 1961 - on this day the first man went into space.

Yuri Gagarin

Once upon a time, Yuri Gagarin could not even imagine that from a simple foundry worker (namely, he mastered this specialty after school and institute) he would turn into the world's first cosmonaut. His fate was changed by the army, where he served in aviation. After demobilization, Gagarin decided to become a tester of new flight technology - that's what the Soviet Union (unofficially, of course) called spaceships. And a year later, preparations began for the first manned flight into space. Future cosmonauts underwent the most serious medical examinations, trained on the most modern devices at that time, allowing them to adapt to the conditions of weightlessness as much as possible. Four days before the fateful event, it was Yuri Gagarin who was appointed the pilot of the Vostok. On April 12, the first ship with a man on board was launched from Baikonur.

Unforeseen difficulties

But the flight itself did not end quite as planned. Gagarin was in space for a little over an hour, everything went well, the astronaut constantly gave a report on the state of his own and the ship, but then the braking system for some reason failed. As a result, Vostok landed not in a place determined during preparation for the flight, but near a small village in the Saratov region - April 12 was clearly a very memorable date for it. Today, by the way, there is a museum of Yuri Gagarin, where you can learn more about the astronaut himself, and about that fateful flight for the whole Earth.

holiday institution

On the same day, the whole world heard about the breakthrough in the field of astronautics. Naturally, America immediately tried to repeat the feat of Gagarin. But still the first word in space remained with the USSR. April 12, 1962 was the day of memory of the feat of Yuri Gagarin. And after some six years, since 1968, they began to celebrate World Cosmonautics Day. No other human flight beyond the Earth's atmosphere has received such honors, not even Neil Armstrong's famous moon landing.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union, no one dared to raise the issue of abolishing this celebration. In 1995, the Russian government officially approved the holiday on April 12. Since 2001, on the world stage, it has become known as the International Day of Human Space Flight.

How is Cosmonautics Day celebrated?

It is difficult to talk about any specific traditions of celebrating April 12th. Of course, schools hold various events dedicated not only to the first manned flight into space, but in general. Various public organizations organize round tables, debates and many other options for discussions for young people, where you can not only learn more about the history of the holiday, but also discuss trends in the development of science in this direction. April 12, Cosmonautics Day, is a great opportunity to communicate with those who are really interested in space exploration and can tell a lot of new and sometimes completely unexpected things.

One of the good ideas for celebrating Cosmonautics Day at school is an open event, which tells not only about the flight of Yuri Gagarin and preparations for it, but also about the long way to create the first rocket, hypotheses related to space, the evolution of human knowledge about the environment world and much, much more. Some teachers unfairly forget that the result is not always important, the path to it is sometimes much more exciting than dry facts. Moreover, in no case should one belittle the merits of scientists, without whom the development of cosmonautics, in principle, would not have been possible.

Conclusion

It is difficult to compare April 12 with such large-scale holidays as the New Year, the fight against AIDS, celebrated all over the world. Many do not even immediately remember when the first man went into space. But the exploration of extraterrestrial space has given, gives and will give mankind a lot more. So far, we simply do not represent all the possibilities that will open up to us in further research. Perhaps today, dreams about sound utopian, but after all, a hundred years ago, no one could have imagined that people would be able to leave the Earth. Everything is ahead. And in no case should we forget that April 12 is Cosmonautics Day, the day when man challenged the Universe.

On April 12, 1961, the world was shocked by the announcement that the Soviet Union had made its first flight into space. The first in the history of the Vostok spacecraft with a man on board, piloted by Yuri Aleskeevich Gagarin, was launched into orbit around the Earth.

This date has entered the history of mankind forever. The first space flight lasted 108 minutes. Nowadays, when many months of expeditions are made on orbital space stations, it seems to be very short. But each of those minutes was a discovery of the unknown.

Yuri Gagarin's flight proved that man can live and work in space. So a new profession appeared on Earth - an astronaut. In this article, we will share with you little-known facts about the first flight into space.

The secret of the Soviet cosmonautics. Three cosmonauts died before Gagarin

Space veterans say the triumphant Soviet space program, which culminated in Yuri Gagarin's first flight into space, has been marred by several tragedies that have been kept secret from Russians and the rest of the world.

Mikhail Rudenko, former chief engineer of Khimki Experimental Design Bureau No. 456, said that the first three victims were test pilots who flew into the outer atmosphere along parabolic trajectories, which means that they flew up and then crashed down without flying around Earth.

“All three died during the flights, but their names were not made public”

Rudenko said. He gave the names of the dead: Ledovskikh, Shaborin and Mitkov died in 1957, 1958 and 1959. According to Rudenko, the death of test pilots forced the Soviet leadership to create a special school for training space pioneers. “They decided to give training more serious attention and create a special staff of astronauts,” he said.

And this is not to mention the fact that tragedies occurred not only in space, but also on Earth: during one of the trainings, right in the isolation chamber (an experimental chamber with low gravity), Valentin Bondarenko, the youngest cosmonaut candidate, died. Irina Ponomareva, a space expert at the Institute for Problems of Biology and Medicine, who has been involved in the work on the space program since 1959, says, “We tried to create the conditions that the astronaut would encounter in orbit, but a fire broke out in the chamber, it was impossible to save Bondarenko. It's the only thing I remember."

The first flights into space. running animals

I must say that Belka with Strelka and Yuri Gagarin are far from the first living creatures to conquer the territory of weightlessness. Before that, the dog Laika had been there, the flight of which was being prepared for 10 years and ended sadly - she died. Flying into space and turtles, mice, monkeys. The brightest flights, and there were only three of them, were made by a dog named Zhulka. Twice she launched on high-altitude rockets, the third - on a ship that turned out to be not so perfect and gave technical failures. The vessel was unable to reach orbit, and the decision to destroy it was considered. But again there are malfunctions in the system, and the ship returns home ahead of schedule by falling. The satellite was discovered in Siberia. No one hoped for a successful outcome of the search, not to mention the dog. But having survived a terrible accident, hunger and thirst, Zhulka escaped and lived another 14 years after the fall.

On September 23, 1959, a rocket exploded right at the start, carrying the dogs Krasavka and Damka on board. On December 1, the launch was more successful: the dogs Pchelka and Mushka successfully postponed the launch, however, due to the fact that the descent trajectory at the end of the flight was too steep, the ship burned down along with the animals in it

Usually mongrels were sent into space because purebred dogs are too nervous

says Vladimir Gubarev, a science journalist who has covered 50 space flights.

Three messages about the first flight into space

Shortly before the flight into space, three pre-launch appeals of the "first cosmonaut to the Soviet people" were recorded. The first was recorded by Yuri Gagarin, and two more by his doubles German Titov and Grigory Nelyubov. Interestingly, three texts of the TASS message about the first manned flight into space were also prepared:
- in case of a successful flight
- in case of loss of an astronaut and the need to organize a search for him
- in case of disaster.
All three messages were sealed in special envelopes numbered 1, 2, 3 and sent to radio, television and TASS.
On April 12, 1961, the media received a clear order to open only the envelope, the number of which was indicated by the Kremlin, and to immediately destroy the remaining messages.

Poems during the first flight into space

Yuri Gagarin in one of his many interviews admitted that during the flight into space he recalled the poems of his favorite poet Sergei Yesenin. During a meeting with cultural figures, which took place a week after the world's first space flight, Gagarin on a book with poems by his favorite poet left the following entry:

“I love the poems of Sergei Yesenin and respect him as a person who loves Mother Russia”

This unique book is in the center of the exposition "Oh Russia, flap your wings! .." in the Moscow State Museum of S.A. Yesenin.

Audio recording, first flight transcript

Conversation between Gagarin and Korolev during the first flight into space. The transcript is abridged.

Today, April 12, people around the world celebrate Aviation and Cosmonautics Day - a holiday dedicated to the first manned flight into space.

Holidays April 12, 2019

Aviation and Cosmonautics Day

April 12 is celebrated around the world. This memorable date is dedicated to the first manned flight into space.
It was on this day, April 12, 1961, for the first time in the world on the Vostok spacecraft, Senior Lieutenant Yu.A. Gagarin, a citizen of the Soviet Union, made an orbital flight around the Earth and thus opened the era of manned space flights.
World Aviation and Cosmonautics Day has become a triumphal celebration of science and those who work in the space industry.
Cosmonautics Day as a holiday was established on April 9, 1962 by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, and this holiday received international status at the conference of the International Aviation Federation already in 1968. Since 2011, this holiday has been called the International Day of Human Space Flight.

Unusual holidays

On this day, you can have fun celebrating 2 unusual holidays - the spring Sunbeam Weaving Day and the US holiday - the World Bunting Festival.

Sunburst Day

You probably don’t know yet that you can weave whatever you want out of the sun’s rays, especially today - April 12th. For example, from the sun's rays you can weave laces of happiness and joy, or tie curls of small harmless pranks and good mood. The sun's rays can be woven with golden threads into your material world, creating something light and warm, magically transforming it. May there always be enough of these golden rays of the sun for everyone!

USA World Bunting Festival

In the United States every year on the second Friday of April, people celebrate the World Oatmeal Festival. This three-day festival is held in St. George, South Carolina.
The first oatmeal festival took place in 1985, thanks to Bill Hunter, the manager of the Piggly Wiggly supermarket in St. George, who noticed that shoppers in this city bought oatmeal much more often and in larger quantities than residents of other cities. So he came up with the idea to organize the World Oatmeal Festival in the town of St. George to remind the American population about healthy foods.

Church Orthodox holiday

Lazarus Saturday

Lazarus Saturday is the last Saturday before Palm Sunday. The Orthodox Church on this day remembers the miraculous resurrection of the righteous Lazarus by Christ. Orthodox Christians of Cyprus, Bulgaria, Greece and other countries celebrate this holiday according to the Gregorian calendar.
According to the scriptures, Saint Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, lived in the village of Bethany not far from Jerusalem. Christ called Lazarus his friend and often visited his house. When Lazarus fell seriously ill, and the news of his illness reached Christ, He said: "This is a disease not for death, but for the glory of God, may the Son of God be glorified through it."
Four days before Jesus came to Bethany, Lazarus died. Jesus, having heard about the death of a friend, shed tears and ordered the stone to be taken away from the cave in which Lazarus was buried. Then, when Christ called out, “Lazarus! Get out,” the dead Lazar immediately resurrected and left the cave.
The news of this miracle quickly spread throughout Judea. The next day, when Christ rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, people greeted Him as a king, covering His path with their clothes and palm branches, in Russia their symbol is a willow. After St. Lazarus preached Christianity, was a bishop in Cyprus and lived another 30 years after his resurrection.

Holiday according to the folk calendar

Ivan Lestvichnik

On this day, April 12, Orthodox Christians honor the memory of the Christian philosopher and theologian - John of the Ladder, hegumen of the Sinai monastery, who lived in the 6th-7th centuries and was the author of the "Ladder" - a guide to moral self-improvement.
John in his work presented the 30 virtues in the form of steps by which Christians should ascend to the ideal.
12 - on the day of honoring John, in Russia they baked cookies - ladders. For this, two “sausages” were rolled from the dough, they were laid parallel to each other, pies were laid on top like steps. It was believed that every household would have health this year - for everyone you need to bake a ladder. Usually, cookies were brought to church to be sprinkled with holy water.
The peasants on John of the Ladder were afraid to walk around the yard. Our ancestors believed that on this day the brownie would not recognize his family and "freaks", so he could harm them.
Name day April 12 with Zacharias, Ivan
April 12 is also celebrated: Sunburst Day, Rock and Roll Birthday,

April 12 in history

1949 - The construction of the Main Building of Moscow State University on Sparrow Hills began.
1951 US Air Force Black Thursday; on this day during the Korean War, the Americans lost more than 10 B-29 bombers shot down or shot down by Soviet MiG-15 fighters
1959 - The film by Sergei Bondarchuk "The Fate of a Man" was released.
1961 - The world's first manned space flight, carried out by Yuri Gagarin on the Soviet spacecraft Vostok.
1970 - The death of the submarine K-8 of the USSR Navy. 52 crew members of the submarine were killed.
1981 - Americans launch the first reusable ship "Columbia" into space
1984 - The beginning of the transition to 11-year secondary education was announced in the USSR.
1985 - The millionth copy of the Volga GAZ-24 rolled off the assembly line of the Gorky Automobile Plant.
1992 - Alla Dzhalilova (born 1908) - Lezgi ballerina, the first ballerina of Dagestan, soloist of the Bolshoi Theater troupe, died.
1995 - The Yahoo! search engine is launched, quickly becoming one of the most popular in the world.
2005 - Intel began shipping dual-core Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 840 processors

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1242 - the victory of the Russian army under the leadership of Prince Alexander Nevsky over the Livonian knights in the Battle of the Ice on the shores of Lake Peipsi (April 5, old style).
1606 - By decree of the English king James I, who was also King James VI of Scotland, a new flag was introduced, later called the "Union Jack". Since England and Scotland were then independent states, the flag was used as an additional flag on the ships of both countries to show that they serve the same sovereign.
1782 - The British fleet under Admiral Rodney defeats the French fleet at the Holy Battle in the West Indies.
1815 - During the eruption of the Tambora volcano (beginning on the 5th, culminating on April 10), about 10,000 people died immediately and 80,000 later (as a result of a tsunami and famine).
1832 - The American paddle steamer Brandyvane burns on the Mississippi. 260 people die.
1861 - Confederates bombard Fort Sumter. Beginning of the American Civil War.
- The Decree "On the establishment in St. Petersburg of the Alexander Hospital for the working population in memory of February 19, 1861" was issued in the Russian Empire.
1862 - American Civil War. Great locomotive race.
1881 - Announcement of the Highest permission of Emperor Alexander III of free entry and exit from Russia.
1903 - In London, the world's first city bus with an internal combustion engine entered the route.
1911 - The first non-stop flight from London to Paris is carried out by the chief pilot-instructor of the Blériot flight school in Hendon, Pierre PRIER, on a Blériot monoplane with a 50 hp Gnome engine. It takes off from the Hendon airfield (UK) and lands at Issy-les-Moulineaux airfield (France) in 3 hours and 56 minutes.
- The first All-Russian Aeronautical Congress took place in St. Petersburg. Among its participants were: Vice Admiral I. N. Grigorovich, Minister of the Navy, Lieutenant S. F. Dorozhinsky, Major General N. G. Korsakevich, Admiral M. A. Rykachev, 2nd Rank Captain A. A. Yanovich and a number of other naval officers.
1918 - The last raid of German airships, which ended in human casualties.
- Decree of the Council of People's Commissars "On the removal of monuments erected in honor of the tsars and their servants, and the development of projects for monuments of the Russian Socialist Revolution."
1919 - The first Communist subbotnik took place in Soviet Russia (3 steam locomotives were repaired at the Moscow-Sortirovochnaya station).
1927 - Chiang Kai-shek coup in Nanjing and Shanghai.
1934 - A wind speed of 372 kilometers per hour was recorded on Mount Washington (New Hampshire, USA).
1937 - Bench tests of F. Whittle's gas turbine jet engine.
1943 - The "Kurchatov Institute" was founded to create nuclear weapons.
1949 - In the south-west of the capital of the USSR, the city of Moscow, the construction of the Main building of Moscow State University on Sparrow Hills began.
1959 - on the 40th anniversary of the first Communist Subbotnik, a steam locomotive was installed on the territory of the Moscow-Sortirovochnaya locomotive depot - one of the three steam locomotives repaired at that time.
1961 - The world's first manned space flight, carried out by Yuri Gagarin on the Soviet spacecraft Vostok.
- The Soviet submarine K-19 almost collided with the world's first American nuclear submarine SSN-571 "Nautilus". During an evasive maneuver, the K-19 hit the ground with its nose.
1964 - The Polet-2 spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Earth.
1970 - The death of the submarine K-8 of the Soviet Navy. 52 crew members of the submarine were killed.
1972 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A VASP NAMC YS-11A-211 crashes on approach. All 25 people on board die.
1980 - Florianopolis, Brazil. A Ytsmdntsdo Boeing 727-27 crashes into a hill while landing in a thunderstorm. Kills 55 people out of 58 on board. The pilot did not evaluate the speed and distance and did not have time to make a new circle. Pilot Disadvantages.
- In Liberia, Colonel Samuel Doe carries out a military coup and assassinates the country's president, William Tolbert.
1981 - The spacecraft Columbia launched into space. The first manned flight under the Space Shuttle program.
1985 - The millionth copy of the Volga GAZ-24 rolled off the assembly line of the Gorky Automobile Plant.
1988 - The US Patent and Trademark Office issues the first patent for an animal (a laboratory mouse) that has been genetically engineered.
- Near Hanneman, South Africa. A United Air Douglas DC-3 crashes after a fire breaks out at FL90 (9000 ft.) and an emergency descent is initiated. All 24 people on board die.
1992 - Euro Disneyland opens near Paris.
1995 - The Yahoo! catalog is launched, quickly becoming one of the most popular catalogs in the world.
1997 - fire in the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, where the Shroud of Turin is located. At the last minute, the relic is saved from the fire.
2003 - The spring session of the governing bodies of the International Monetary Fund /IMF/ and the World Bank /WB/ opened in Washington.
2005 - Intel began shipping dual-core Pentium 4 Extreme Edition 840 processors.

Holiday calendar, dates and events in April