Short answers, pulled from the story.
The first Soyuz launcher touched down in 1966 after a series of four failed test flights. This vehicle emerged from the R-7 Semyorka which served as the world's first intercontinental ballistic missile.
More than 1,700 flights have cemented the Soyuz rocket as the most frequently used space launcher in history. Between 2003 and 2005 it stood as the sole means of transportation to the International Space Station following the grounding of the US Space Shuttle fleet.
A Soyuz-U launch of the Photon-M satellite exploded 29 seconds after lift-off on the 15th of October 2002 near the Plesetsk launch site. One ground crew member died while eight others suffered injuries during this incident.
The Soyuz-U retired in 2017 while the Soyuz-FG carried crews until September 2019. This final flight was designated Soyuz MS-15 and departed on the 25th of September 2019.
Commercial entities like Starsem utilized the Soyuz-Fregat configuration for European satellite launches starting in 1997. An April 1997 contract secured launches for two pairs of Cluster II plasma science satellites for the European Space Agency.