Passersby in Moscow, 1961. The photograph shows passersby in Moscow in April 1961, listening with amazement and disbelief to news of Yuri Gagarin’s first space flight broadcast over public loudspeakers.

Scene: A group of people, including men and women in typical Soviet clothing of the early 1960s, have stopped on a street or square. Their faces show astonishment, disbelief, or enthusiasm as they look upward toward the loudspeakers.

Background: A typical Moscow street or square with trolleybuses, old buildings, and other passersby slowly gathering.

Atmosphere: A unique moment in which Soviet citizens learned that a human being had orbited the Earth for the first time—a milestone in the history of spaceflight.

The photograph symbolizes the surprise and pride of the Soviet population, reached by the news of Gagarin’s success in the middle of their everyday lives—a historical moment of collective wonder.