There are plenty of holidays and celebrations throughout the year, but chances are you haven’t heard of half of them. For example, did you know that today is Yuris’ Night?
Kudos if you did, but if you didn’t, here’s a little bit about it…
Yuri’s Night is an unofficial holiday that honours and celebrates human space exploration. It commemorates the day in 1961 when Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first human to travel into space. It also celebrates the launch of the first space shuttle, Space Shuttle Columbia, on April 12th 1981.
The holiday was created in 2001, 40 years after the first ever successful human space flight. The aim was to help promote public interest in space exploration and encourage younger generations to consider proffesions in the field of space exploration and research.
The United Nation have even designated April 12th as the International Day of Human Space Flight. The collective message it aims to spread is to protect our planet and enhance what we have, not destroy it. Discovery and protecting areas of our planet along with space helps preserve things for future generations, whilst broadening our knowledge.
Space fans often celebrate the day by visitng space museums, watching documentaries about space exploration and meeting up with like-minded friends to talk about their love for the field.
With it being the 20th anniversary this year, there are several online events being hosted to still connect people and help celebrate the day. The official Yuri’s Night social media account has loads of fascinating facts, activies and virtual events that you can join in if you’re wanting to find out a bit more!