Who was the First Man to blast off to space?

Question: Who was the First Man to blast off to space!?
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker:

Yuri Gagarin was a USSR man and the first human in space!. He achieved this on the 12 April, 1961!.
http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/Yuri_Gagari!.!.!.

Valentina Tereshkova is also from the USSR and the first female in space!. She flew into space on the 16 June, 1963!.
http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/Valentina_T!.!.!.

Albert II, a Rhesus Monkey, became the first monkey in space on June 14, 1949, in a U!.S!.-launched V2,
On August 31, 1950, the U!.S!. launched a mouse into space
On January 29, 1951, the Soviet Union launched the R-1 IIIA-1 flight, carrying the dogs Tsygan and Dezik into space, but not into orbit
The first animal in orbit was the dog Laika, launched aboard the Soviet Sputnik 2 spacecraft on November 3, 1957!. Laika died during the flight!.
Monkeys "Able" and "Baker" became the first monkeys to survive spaceflight after their 1959 flight!. On May 28, 1959, aboard Jupiter IRBM AM-18, were a 7-pound (3!.18 kg) American-born rhesus monkey, "Able", and an 11 ounce (310 g) squirrel monkey from Peru, "Baker
On January 31, 1961, Ham the Chimp was launched in a Mercury capsule aboard a Redstone rocket!. His mission was Mercury-Redstone 2!. The chimp had been trained to pull levers to receive rewards of banana pellets and avoid electric shocks
Enos the chimp became the first primate in orbit on November 29, 1961, in another Mercury capsule, an Atlas rocket, Mercury-Atlas 5!.
The Soviet Union in the Vostok 3A flights of March 1961 launched mice and, for the first time, guinea pigs and frogs
France flew the first rat into space on February 22, 1961!.
During the Voskhod program, two Russian space dogs, Veterok and Ugolyok, were launched on February 22, 1966, on board Cosmos 110 and spent 22 days in orbit before landing on March 16!. This spaceflight of record-breaking duration was not surpassed by humans until Skylab 2 in 1974
The United States launched Biosatellite I in 1966 and Biosatellite I/II in 1967 with fruit flies, parasitic wasps, flour beetles and frog eggs, along with bacteria, amoebae, plants and fungi!.
The first tortoise in space was launched September 14, 1968 by the Soviet Union!.
http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/Animals_in_!.!.!.

Maggie, Dan Prescott was a fictional character in the 1959 film, The First Man in Space!.
http://www!.imdb!.com/title/tt0052805/syno!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

There is actually a story that Yuri Gagarin was the first man successfully launched into space and then returned to earth!. Supposedly the Soviets launched a man before Gagarin and couldn't get him back down!. Since the mission was a failure they covered it up!.

cue 'Ground control to Major Tom!.!.!.!."Www@QuestionHome@Com

More firsts:

First Chinese person in space was Ling Wei, 2003!. (only 3 countries can do this independently!.)
http://www!.space!.com/missionlaunches/she!.!.!.

First Indian in space, 1984, aboard a Russian spacecraft!.

John Glenn was the oldest, in '98, at 77!.
http://www!.funtrivia!.com/askft/Question7!.!.!.
http://www!.bharat-rakshak!.com/SPACE/spac!.!.!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Yuri Gagarin, a Russian Cosmonaut, was the first human in space!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

Yuri Gagarin first man Alan Sheppard first american in space, John Glenn first american to orbit the earth!.Www@QuestionHome@Com

i dont know his name, all i know is that he was russian!. sorry!Www@QuestionHome@Com

Lt!. Dan Prescott i think!.
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