Tuesday, April 12, 2011

The First Person Ever in Space




Fifty years ago today, Yuri Gagarin became the first human being ever to enter space and orbit around the earth. He supposedly was heard whistling this tune by Shostakovich as he orbited.





The Earth and Moon from Mars


We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

--TS Eliot, from "Little Gidding


This is a significant event in human history, and yet it seems to me to be going largely unobserved (at least in the USA). Indeed, this significant date almost escaped the notice of our reporters and editors here at Counterlight Plaza on East 57th street in Manhattan.

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