Death of Yuri Gagarin

Common card · No. 202132

On 27 March 1968, Yuri Gagarin, the first human to go into space, died together with pilot Vladimir Seryogin during a routine training flight, after the MiG-15 jet fighter they were flying crashed near Novosyolovo in the Soviet Union. After his death, the Soviet government declared a period of national mourning in the memory of Gagarin. This was the first case in Soviet history where a day of national mourning was declared after the death of a person while performing work for the state and was the first time it happened for someone who was not a head of state. At 21:15 of the next day, the remains of Gagarin and Vladimir Seryogin were cremated. Their ashes were buried in the Kremlin Wall Necropolis. Wrapped in secrecy, the cause of the crash that killed Gagarin is uncertain and became the subject of several theories. At least three investigations into the crash were conducted separately by the Air Force, official government commissions, and the KGB. According to a biography of Gagarin by...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Tony Hisgett from Birmingham, UK, CC BY 2.0