(STACKER) – From Mars rovers to deep-space intel to a bevy of programs in the works around the world to further our understanding of outer space, the history of space exploration is being newly written every day.

To celebrate the endless frontier and honor the achievements that got us this far, Stacker used a combination of news, government, and other archival reports to curate a gallery of 50 historic firsts in space. Although the idea of galaxies beyond the Earth’s atmosphere has long entranced human beings, it wasn’t until the second half of the 20th century that space flight became a reality, enabling humans to see beyond the Earth—and, in the case of the first photographs taken of the Earth—to see the Earth itself.

We tend to think of the middle-to-end of the 20th century as a time when many of the firsts in space occurred, and this is for good reason. The Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union was a major factor influencing the proliferation of space activity. Both countries competed for dominance in outer space, and many of the firsts achieved in space were due to the desire of both countries to be “the first.” When the Cold War ebbed late in the century, there was less incentive for either country to out-rocket the other. The current work being done by NASA, scientists, and astronomers around the world, however, shows that humans’ fascination with space and desire to explore the cosmos is as strong as ever.

Keep reading for a comprehensive retrospective of famous firsts in space, including the United Kingdom’s first astronaut, the first insect to visit space, and the planet’s first space tourist.

  • 1902: First space movie
  • 1947: First insects in space
  • NASA/Marshall Space Flight Center // Wikimedia Commons
  • 1948: First monkey sent to space
  • 1958: First American man-in-space program
  • 1959: America’s first astronauts
  • 1961: First person in space
  • 1961: First American in space
  • 1961: First lengthy space flight
  • 1962: First American orbits the Earth
  • 1963: First woman in space
  • 1963: First cat in space
  • 1964: First flight without space suits
  • 1965: First spacewalk
  • 1965: First American space walk
  • 1966: First manned docking in space
  • 1966: First full-Earth photo from the moon’s orbit
  • 1968: First view of the far side of the moon
  • 1969: First multi-craft, multi-manned week
  • 1969: First man on the moon
  • 1969: First man pees on the moon
  • 1971: First deaths in space
  • 1971: First moon golf
  • 1971: First spacecraft links to space station
  • 1973: First skylab
  • 1975: First international manned spaceflight
  • 1977: First ‘Star Wars’ film
  • 1980: First Black astronaut in space
  • 1981: First space shuttle reaches orbit
  • 1983: First American woman in space
  • 1983: First African American in space
  • 1984: First Soviet woman walks in space
  • 1984: First untethered spacewalk
  • 1984: First Indian in space
  • 1985: First royal in space
  • 1985: First Atlantis shuttle flight
  • 1988: First space shuttle flight since Challenger disaster
  • 1989: First probe launched from a shuttle
  • 1991: First British astronaut visits space
  • 1992: First satellite captured with bare hands
  • 1995: First woman commands space shuttle mission
  • 1995: First American aboard Soviet spaceship
  • 1995: First meetup between Atlantis and Mir
  • 1996: First American woman serves on Mir
  • 2000: First International Space Station crew
  • 2001: World’s first space tourist
  • 2002: First space railway
  • 2003: First man marries in space
  • 2007: First space marathon
  • 2012: First commercial space mission
  • 2015: First successful Pluto mission
  • 2021: First helicopter on Mars
  • 2021: A billionaire space race blasts off