On April 12, in 1961, Yuri Gagarin became the first human in space, orbiting the earth for a little under two hours (108 minutes), at a speed of just over 17,000 miles per hour, at an altitude of 203 miles above the earth.  Gagarin ejected out of the Vostok spacecraft after re-entry.  Because of its design, it couldn’t slow down enough and the impact would’ve probably killed Gagarin.  Instead, he landed by parachute near a farm, where he had to convince the farmers that he was a fellow Soviet.  However, that’s one of those things that the Soviet government kept quiet.  At the time, in order for a spaceflight to be deemed “successful,” the pilot had to land with his spacecraft.  It wasn’t until 1971 that the Soviet Union admitted that Gagarin didn’t land with his craft.  By then, it was deemed that any spaceflight where you didn’t get killed was successful, and that continues to be the standard.

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