Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin (Russian: Ю́рий Алексе́евич Гага́рин; 9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Russian Soviet pilot and cosmonaut. He was the first human to journey into outer space, when his Vostok spacecraft completed an orbit of the Earth on 12 April 1961.  Read more..

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On April 12, 1961, Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin (1934-1968) became the first man to be sent into space aboard the capsule Vostok 3KA-2, making a complete revolution around the Earth during 108 minutes. The Post of Moldova ("Poşta Moldovei") had commemorated the 40th anniversary of this USSR feat (less than a month before the first similar flight of US astronaut Alan Shepard) by issuing a special stamp (L 1.80, design : Victor Țurea, print run : 200,000) on April 12, 2001 featuring a portrait of Gagarin and Vostok capsule. The Post of Moldova also celebrated the 45th anniversary (prepaid envelope issued on April 12, 2006) and the 50th anniversary (souvenir sheet issued on April 9, 2011) of this first manned space flight. Read more..