50th Anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's flight into space

I learnt today that Gagarin's flight was 100 years to the day since the US Civil War began (April 12, 1861 and April 12, 1961).<p>Neither were good days to be American, and while it's merely a coincidence (I'm sure the connection would be more prominent in Soviet literature had the date been intentional) it makes me wonder what blows to the US nationhood may be waiting to strike on April 12, 2061? China? Martians? Almost something as seemingly unlikely to us today as space flight was to the Wright Brothers in 1911, and a Civil War would have been to the founding fathers in 1811.<p>Civil War Source <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13040351" rel="nofollow">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13040351</a>

for those interested: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKs6ikmrLgg&#38;feature=channel_video_title" rel="nofollow">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKs6ikmrLgg&#38;feature=chann...</a><p>"A real time recreation of Yuri Gagarin's pioneering first orbit, shot entirely in space from on board the International Space Station."

After recently reading that Vostok 1 was not designed for a soft landing and that Gagarin had to eject and parachute during re-entry, I realized that a Soviet Union centered version of <i>The Right Stuff</i> could make a compelling story.

It just struck me how nonchalant he had to be to start the first manned space flight in history of humanity with word "Poyehaly". As if he was taking a road-trip to the nearby town.