Civil War. The period between 1861-1865 was the most one of the most devastating in American history, both in terms of its death toll and its impact on the American psyche. Learn about the war and the events that precipitated it with these resources and study guides. History & Culture. Top Five Causes of the Civil War.
The first person to travel in space was Soviet cosmonaut Yuri A. Gagarin (1934-1968). His achievement brought prestige to the Soviet Union. Gagarin orbited the Earth in the spaceship Vostok I, which was launched April 12, 1961, in a flight lasting one hour and forty-eight minutes.
Share your tributes to Sally Ride. Ride flew into orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger in 1983 to become America's first woman in space. She took a second trip aboard the same shuttle one year later. The first woman in space was Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, who orbited the Earth 48 times in 1963.