Yuri Gagarin, Russia.

Yuri Gagarin, a Russian was the first man to be launched into space in 1961, although an American named Joseph Kittinger made a parachute jump from a balloon a year earlier over 31 miles above the Earth's surface, so many consider him to be the first man in space.

Keep in mind animals were sent into space several years before people were. Like poor Laika the dog.

1) "Yuri Alexeyevich Gagarin (Russian: Ю́рий Алексе́евич Гага́рин, Jurij Aleksejevič Gagarin Russian pronunciation: [ˈjurʲɪj ɐlʲɪˈksʲeɪvʲɪtÉ• gɐˈgarʲɪn]; 9 March 1934 - 27 March 1968), Hero of the Soviet Union, was a Soviet cosmonaut. On 12 April 1961, he became the first human in space and the first to orbit the Earth. He received medals from around the world for his pioneering tour in outer space." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuri_Gagarin Incidentally, the first *woman* in space was: "Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova (Russian: Валенти́на Влади́мировна Терешко́ва; born 6 March 1937), is a retired Soviet cosmonaut and was the first woman to fly in space, aboard Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentina_Tereshkova 2) "Icarus (Greek: á¼¼καρος, Latin: Íkaros, Etruscan: Vicare) is a character in Greek mythology. He is the son of Daedalus and is commonly known for his attempt to escape Crete by flight, which ended in a fall to his death." "Overcome by the giddiness that flying lent him, Icarus soared through the sky curiously, but in the process he came too close to the sun, which burned his wings. Icarus kept flapping his wings but soon realized that he had no feathers left and that he was only flapping his bare arms. And so, Icarus fell into the sea." Source and further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icarus_(mythology%29 In the meantime, we know that his wings could not have burned *because he came too close to the sun*... And if he still could breathe and use his wings, he was not yet in space actually...

Not to be confused with Neil Armstrong, first man on the moon.