1. 1963: A woman goes into space for the first time
On this date in 1963, the first woman is sent into space in the Russian Vosok 6 mission. Valentina Tereshkova spent a total of 71 hours in space completing a full 48 orbits, which was longer than all of the time American astronauts had spent in space up to that point. Upon her return, Tereshkova received the Hero of the Soviet Union Award, as well as the Order of Lenin Award for her achievements in space. The United States didn’t sent a woman into space until 1983 when Sally Ride served a mission on the Space Shuttle Challenger.