ТОРЖЕСТВЕННАЯ ВСТРЕЧА ЮРИЯ ГАГАРИНА В МОСКВЕ - 14 апреля 1961

YURI GAGARIN'S CEREMONIAL WELCOME IN MOSCOW April 14, 1961 Excerpt from live broadcast JOURNALISTORY - curious pages in the history of journalism - based on Nikolai Pivnenko's "Past Time" project on the Nostalgia TV channel, 2008-2009 FULL VERSION: YT:    • ТОРЖЕСТВЕННАЯ ВСТРЕЧА ЮРИЯ ГАГАРИНА В МОСК...   DZ: https://dzen.ru/video/watch/661adb2ec... On April 14, 1961, Yuri Gagarin was greeted by a crowd of thousands from Leninsky Prospekt to Red Square. Yuri Gagarin was greeted at Vnukovo Airport at 12:00 noon: the plane had flown him from the Saratov Region, where the rocket capsule landed, to Moscow. The members of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee and the country's first cosmonaut were greeted at the airport by 3,000 people from Moscow and the suburbs, who carried portraits of Vladimir Lenin, members of the Central Committee, and Yuri Gagarin. Twenty Komsomol members and 20 Young Pioneers presented everyone with bouquets of flowers. Yuri Gagarin descended the plane and reported to Nikita Khrushchev, First Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee and Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers, that the Motherland's mission had been accomplished and the space flight had been a success. Cheers to the first heroic cosmonaut echoed over the airfield. From the airport, Khrushchev, Gagarin, and his wife Valentina headed into the city in an open car decorated with flowers, accompanied by an honorary escort of motorcyclists. At 1:00 PM, a procession was planned through the streets of the capital from Leninsky Prospekt to the Borovitsky Gate of the Kremlin. City authorities had expected only 100,000 people to greet Yuri Gagarin, but the crowds were so large that every street in the capital was occupied that day. Residents climbed onto rooftops, lampposts, and trees to take part in the celebration. Colorful balloons floated in the air, and the asphalt was strewn with flowers. Homemade banners and posters were everywhere: "Moscow – Space. Hurray!", "Gagarin! Hurray!", "We are first!", "I'm second!", "Hello, Yura!", "Space is ours!", "We are in space!" A helicopter flew over Oktyabrskaya (now Kaluga) Square, dropping leaflets with Gagarin's portrait. Red Square became the center of all the events. Decorators erected a huge 22-meter space rocket on Lobnoye Mesto. At 2:30 PM, members of the government joined Gagarin on the mausoleum's podium. The Soviet Union's anthem was played. CPSU Central Committee Secretary Frol Kozlov opened the rally. Then Yuri Gagarin addressed the crowd. A thunderous ovation rang out across the square. Nikita Khrushchev concluded the rally. That evening, orchestras thundered on makeshift stages, and dance troupes performed. Celebrations on Red Square and throughout the city continued late into the night. The newspaper Vechernyaya Moskva describes the emotions that overwhelmed the jubilant crowd: "Fantastic! Amazing! Stunning! Fabulous!" That evening, a gala reception was held in the Kremlin's St. George's Hall, where Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR Leonid Brezhnev presented the first Soviet cosmonaut with the Hero of the Soviet Union star and the Order of Lenin. All events concluded with a celebratory concert. A year after his first space flight, on April 12, 1962, speaking at a ceremonial meeting of Moscow workers, Gagarin recalled that historic day with the same vivid emotions: "Every time I recall that joyful, sunny day of April 12, 1961 – the day of mankind's first flight into the vastness of the Universe. I am infinitely happy and proud that I, a citizen of the Soviet Union, have been given the great honor of being the first in human history to blaze a trail into the vastness of space. We are on the threshold of new space launches. We want to make new flights into space, and not fly alone, but lead spacecraft with passengers on board. Flights to the Moon, Mars, and other planets are ahead." (Based on materials from https://www.mos.ru/) #history #journalism #npivnenko #journalism #april14 #space #gagarin #ussr ©PK-Nikolay Pivnenko-2024