Yuri Gagarin: The First Human to Leave Our Planet

Dan Snow's History Hit

History Hit

History

4.7 • 13.7K Ratings

🗓️ 12 April 2021

⏱️ 30 minutes

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Summary

On April 12th 1961 the Soviet Union shocked the world by launching the first man into space; Yuri Gagarin. Strapped to the top of a gigantic ICBM Gagarin was blasted into space as the result of a highly secretive programme. This completely surprised those on the other side of the Iron Curtain and caused considerably fear in the West. However, this momentous achievement was in fact a stab in the dark for the Soviets. Lacking the funding and technology of their American adversaries it almost came to ruin on a number of occasions as we shall find out in this podcast. Dan is joined by Stephen Walker who is a brilliant storyteller, director and author of Beyond: The Astonishing Story of the First Human to Leave Our Planet and Journey into Space to tell the thrilling story of the first human in space.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello everybody, welcome to Dan Snow's History Hit. On April 12, 1961, the Soviet Union
0:10.4	shocked the world. I mean, shocked the world by launching the first man into space.
0:18.1	Yuri Gagarin, strapped the top of a gigantic intercontinental ballistic missile, was
0:24.0	blot into space as a result of a secret program that the West didn't really know was happening.
0:29.3	So it came as a very unwelcome shock on the other side of the iron curtain that Soviet Union
0:34.6	had this capability. But as you're here in this podcast, they almost didn't have the capability.
0:38.6	To be honest, it was a bit of a stab in the dark. This is such an amazing story. And I'm
0:44.1	proud on this 60th anniversary of one of the most important events in human history. We've
0:49.0	got this podcast out with the very brilliant Stephen Walker. He is such a fantastic storyteller.
0:54.0	He's a director, a producer of wonderful documentaries. He's written wonderful books. And
0:58.6	this latest one is fabulous. He's going to join me on this podcast to talk me through a truly
1:04.2	remarkable episode in our history. Yuri Gagarin, first human being to head into space.
1:12.4	We've got various programs actually about space history. We've got one in Apollo 13. Lots of
1:15.8	people are watching on history hit.tv. It's our digital history challenge. That Netflix,
1:19.8	just for history. Please head over there, history hit.tv, sign up and watch all the wonderful
1:25.3	documentaries we've got and check out all the back episodes of this podcast as well without ads.
1:30.2	I'm still recovering from my weekend's exertions as I rampage across England with Dr. Kat
1:36.6	Jarman filming for history at TV on the footsteps of the great Heedon army, the Viking army,
1:41.4	the almost almost conquered the whole of England in the ninth century. But didn't quite. Thanks
1:47.0	little guy called Alfred. That's where we end up at that battlefield. Or well, we end up at the
1:51.2	place that we think might be the battlefield. Also exciting discoveries to be made there.
1:57.0	In the meantime, though, everyone, please enjoy this episode of history hit with Stephen Walker.
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