April 12, 1981Reputable sourceWell documented
STS-1: the Space Shuttle flies
On the timeline · around April 12, 1981 ·
What happened
Columbia lifted off exactly 20 years after Gagarin, the first reusable orbital spacecraft, flown by John Young and Robert Crippen.
Why it matters
Thirty years of shuttle flight built the ISS, launched Hubble, and carried 355 people to orbit.
Sources
- NASA. STS-1 (mission page) · Reputable source