Yuri Gagarin

Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin (Russian: Ю́рий Алексе́евич Гага́рин; IPA: [ˈjʉrʲɪj ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ ɡɐˈɡarʲɪn]; 9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Russian Soviet pilot and cosmonaut. He was the first human to journey into outer space, when his Vostok spacecraft completed an orbit of the Earth on 12 April 1961.

Gagarin became an international celebrity, and was awarded many medals and titles, including Hero of the Soviet Union, the nation's highest honour. Vostok 1 marked his only spaceflight, but he served as backup crew to the Soyuz 1 mission (which ended in a fatal crash). Gagarin later became deputy training director of the Cosmonaut Training Centre outside Moscow, which was later named after him. Gagarin died in 1968 when the MiG-15 training jet he was piloting crashed. The Yuri Gagarin Medal is awarded in his honor.

Early life and education

Yuri Gagarin was born in the village of Klushino, near Gzhatsk (renamed Gagarin in 1968 after his death), on 9 March 1934. His parents worked on a collective farm: Alexey Ivanovich Gagarin as a carpenter and bricklayer, and Anna Timofeyevna Gagarina as a milkmaid. Yuri was the third of four children: older brother Valentin, older sister Zoya, and younger brother Boris.

Gagarin (surname)

Gagarin (Russian: Гагарин), or Gagarina (feminine; Гагарина), is a Russian surname derived from the word gagara, meaning loon (a waterbird, genus Gavia). Notable people with the surname include:

Gagarin (crater)

Gagarin is a large lunar impact crater that is located in the southern hemisphere on the far side of the Moon. To the southwest is the crater Pavlov and to the northeast lies Keeler. Closer to the rim are the craters Levi-Civita to the southwest, and Beijerinck to the north-northeast. Isaev lies entirely within the northwest rim of Gagarin. In contrast with the floor of Gagarin, Isaev has a floor with a somewhat low albedo. Isaev is the largest of six craters falling within the perimeter of Gagarin that have been named after pioneers of Russian aviation and astronautics.

Gagarin has been heavily eroded by a long history of crater impacts. The worn rim forms a low, circular ridge around the somewhat bowl-shaped interior. The inner floor is covered by a multitude of crater impacts of various dimensions. Little if anything remains of a central ridge, if the crater ever possessed such a feature.

Satellite craters

By convention these features are identified on lunar maps by placing the letter on the side of the crater midpoint that is closest to Gagarin.

Republic

A republic (from Latin: res publica) is a sovereign state or country which is organised with a form of government in which power resides in elected individuals representing the citizen body and government leaders exercise power according to the rule of law. In modern times, the definition of a republic is commonly limited to a government which excludes a monarch. Currently, 147 of the world's 206 sovereign states use the word "republic" as part of their official names; not all of these are republics in the sense of having elected governments, nor do all nations with elected governments use the word "republic" in their names.

Both modern and ancient republics vary widely in their ideology and composition. In the classical and medieval period of Europe, many states were fashioned on the Roman Republic, which referred to the governance of the city of Rome, between it having kings and emperors. The Italian medieval and Renaissance political tradition, today referred to as "civic humanism", is sometimes considered to derive directly from Roman republicans such as Sallust and Tacitus. However, Greek-influenced Roman authors, such as Polybius and Cicero, sometimes also used the term as a translation for the Greek politeia which could mean regime generally, but could also be applied to certain specific types of regime which did not exactly correspond to that of the Roman Republic. Republics were not equated with classical democracies such as Athens, but had a democratic aspect.

Republic? (album)

Republic? is the fifth studio album from Canadian stoner rock band Sheavy. It was produced by Billy Anderson.

Reception

Jim Martin observed in Terrorizer that "Republic? finds sHeavy rejuvenated, fighting fit and sounding vital and righteous beyond belief. Central to this unexpected rejuvenation is that this is no mere Sabbath tribute record. Although still firmly rooted in elephantine riffs, chugging doom-grooves and 70s shapes, Republic? marks a considerable broadening of this band's horizons, revelling in punkier drives and psychedelic expanses". While Alex Henderson also noted sHeavy's affinity for Sabbath, he said that Republic? differentiated itself from mere tribute due to "a sludginess that you won't find on Sabbath's classic '70s recordings - a sludginess that owes something to the Melvins as well as grunge".Blabbermouth's Scott Alisoglu praised the album for its "biting guitar tone, monster riffage, and a batch of cool solos make it worth cranking at top volume in the car stereo with a cooler of brew in the backseat", and suggested that "Unless you're looking for a reinvention of the wheel, there isn't much to bitch about on Republic?".

Republic (Transnistria)

Republic (Moldovan: Република, Republica, Russian: Республика, Ukrainian: Республіка) is a political party in Transnistria. Although formerly the majority party in parliament, at the legislative elections of 11 December 2005 the party won 13 of the 43 seats and found itself in the minority for the first time since the founding of the country on September 2, 1990. In the 2010 elections, Republic won 16 seats. The party is affiliated with former President Igor Smirnov.

References