It’s little wonder that generations of children hold fond ambitions to become astronauts and follow in the footsteps of the legendary likes of Neil Armstrong. In 2005, Armstrong told “60 Minutes” (per CBS News) that there was no grand plan for him to be the first person ever to step on the moon’s surface. “I was just chosen to command that flight,” he said. “Circumstance put me in that particular role.” Regardless, though, he became a legend.

Another of the biggest names in the history of space travel is cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. Eight years before the moon landing, Gagarin became the first person ever to travel in space. As Britannica reports, the Soviet Union inundated him with honors for his achievement, such as the titles “Hero of the Soviet Union” and the “Pilot Cosmonaut of the Soviet Union.” Interestingly, this national (and indeed global) hero could not have risen from more humble beginnings.

Per Britannica, Gagarin was born close to Gzhatsk, Russia, in March 1934. Both of his parents worked on a kolkhoz, a Soviet Union collective farm on state land that was worked by multiple peasant families. His father was a carpenter, and perhaps it was this that helped encourage him to pursue a trade of his own. Before he could do so, however, his family would be directly impacted by Operation Barbarossa, the German invasion and occupation of the Soviet Union during World War II.

From living in a makeshift hut to worldwide icon

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