Yuri's Night is an international celebration held on April 12 every year to commemorate space exploration milestones. The first and most important milestone, and the namesake of this event was the launch of the first human into space, Yuri Gagarin on April 12, 1961 on the Vostok 1 spaceship. The second milestone was the launch of the first Space Shuttle, STS-1, on April 12, 1981. In 2004, people celebrated Yuri's Night in 34 countries in over 75 individual events. Locations have included Los Angeles, Stockholm, Antarctica, the San Francisco Bay Area, Tel Aviv, Tokyo, and the International Space Station.

The goal of Yuri's Night is to increase public interest in space exploration and to inspire a new generation of explorers. Driven by space-inspired artistic expression and culminating in a worldwide network of annual celebrations and educational events, Yuri's Night creates a global community of young people committed to shaping the future of space exploration while developing responsible leaders and innovators with a global perspective. These global events are a showcase for elements of culture that embrace space including music, dance, fashion, and art.

(... from Wikipedia on 2010-08-28 05:24:48 )