Welcome to Bedtime History. Hello, this is Breck.

If you enjoy the show, be sure to subscribe to be notified about new episodes,

and to get our entire catalog of episodes ad-free, you can subscribe via Apple Podcasts. Also be sure to check out

our 400-plus educational videos on our YouTube channel. We also have a new show called

Bedtime Safari, so look for the link in the show notes of our most recent episodes.

Close your eyes and imagine you're sitting inside a small spacecraft,

strapped into your seat as buttons glow softly around you.

Outside the window is not sky, not clouds, but the dark endlessness of space.

Below you, the earth turns slowly, blue and white and beautiful. You feel the rocket

rumble, lifting you higher and higher, farther than any woman has ever traveled before.

Your heart races, but you stay calm, knowing that history is about to change. This was the moment Valentina Tureshkova experienced when she became the first woman to travel into space.

Valentina Tureshkova was born on March 6, 1937, in a small village called Maslenikovo in the Soviet Union, now part of Russia.

Her family lived a simple life. Her father was a tractor driver and her mother worked in a textile factory. When Valentina was young,

her father died during World War II, leaving her mother to raise the family alone. Life was not

easy and Valentina left school at a young age to help support

her family by working in a factory just like her mother. Even while working long hours,

Valentina loved learning. She studied at night and dreamed of doing something meaningful with her life.

One of her greatest interests became parachuting.

She joined a local flying club and learned how to jump from airplanes.

The feeling of falling through the sky excited her.

She later said that parachuting made her feel free and brave.

By her early 20s, she had completed dozens of jumps.

...