Yuri Gagarin's family lived behind their home in a small mud hut for twenty-one months starting on the 18th of October 1941. This period began when Nazi forces captured the village of Klushino and burned down the local school and twenty-seven houses.
Yuri Gagarin measured 1.68 meters tall and weighed less than 70 kilograms which fit strict medical commissions limits for pilots between 25 and 30 years old. He was selected from a pool of 154 qualified pilots and approved as one of the first twelve members on the 7th of March 1960.
Yuri Gagarin completed one orbit of Earth in just 108 minutes after launching at 6:07 am UTC on the 12th of April 1961. He ejected from the capsule at approximately 7 kilometers altitude before landing with a parachute in Kazakhstan.
Soviet officials refused to admit that Yuri Gagarin had not landed with his spacecraft because international rules required the pilot to remain inside the vehicle during re-entry. The Fédération Aéronautique Internationale later revised its standards to acknowledge the successful launch, orbit, and return of the pilot.
Yuri Gagarin died on the 27th of March 1968 when his MiG-15UTI crashed near the town of Kirzhach during a routine training flight. A declassified KGB report claimed an air-traffic controller provided outdated weather information and ground crew left external fuel tanks attached to the aircraft.