Who was the first human to orbit Earth?

Yuri Gagarin was the first human to orbit Earth, completing one orbit on 12 April 1961.

Gagarin was a Soviet cosmonaut and military pilot. He launched aboard Vostok 1 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in what is now Kazakhstan. The flight lasted 108 minutes from launch to landing and reached an altitude of roughly 327 kilometres.

Because the Vostok spacecraft did not land with Gagarin inside its capsule, he ejected and parachuted separately during the descent. Soviet officials initially kept that detail quiet because the international sporting definition of a completed spaceflight required the pilot to land with the spacecraft.

Gagarin's mission came before the United States sent a person into orbit. John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth in February 1962. Neil Armstrong later became the first person to walk on the Moon, a different milestone from being first in orbit.