Answer: John Glenn.
Yes it was. I know you think it was Yuri Gagarin, but it wasn't. Rules were broken so Gagarin's effort shouldn't count. And why?
The rules at the time, taking into account that pretty much any nation could send a man into space, stated that for the attempt to be considered successful, the man had to come back to earth and land in at least a part of the craft that was sent out. It was this return that was the tricky part.
Gagarin didn't return to earth in the craft. He bailed out at 20,000 feet. As the Soviets at the time were ultra secretive and allowed no independent verification, they announced that Gagarin had indeed returned to earth in the craft, but he hadn't! His bail-out invalidated their claim to him being the first man in space. Okay, he was given the title and this was accepted until it was discovered how duplicitous the Soviets had been but it was considered too late to strip him of the title. It's like saying 'John Smith was the first athlete to jump over 30 feet' and this could be validated at the sand end with the measuring tape. However this could be because there were those who wanted him to achieve this feat and hid the fact that at the jumping end, he was well over the board.
First man in space? Step forward Major John Glenn!
Yes it was. I know you think it was Yuri Gagarin, but it wasn't. Rules were broken so Gagarin's effort shouldn't count. And why?
The rules at the time, taking into account that pretty much any nation could send a man into space, stated that for the attempt to be considered successful, the man had to come back to earth and land in at least a part of the craft that was sent out. It was this return that was the tricky part.
Gagarin didn't return to earth in the craft. He bailed out at 20,000 feet. As the Soviets at the time were ultra secretive and allowed no independent verification, they announced that Gagarin had indeed returned to earth in the craft, but he hadn't! His bail-out invalidated their claim to him being the first man in space. Okay, he was given the title and this was accepted until it was discovered how duplicitous the Soviets had been but it was considered too late to strip him of the title. It's like saying 'John Smith was the first athlete to jump over 30 feet' and this could be validated at the sand end with the measuring tape. However this could be because there were those who wanted him to achieve this feat and hid the fact that at the jumping end, he was well over the board.
First man in space? Step forward Major John Glenn!
