Space fans launched parties worldwide April 12 in celebration of Russian Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space.

Forty-five years ago, Gagarin and his capsule, Vostok 1, were shot into orbit atop a multistage rocket, making the cosmonaut the first human to look down on Earth from space.

The UAF Space Club and the Geophysical Institute celebrated with movies and a party, along with space fanatics all over the world who celebrated at 86 parties in 31 countries on all seven continents, including Antarctica at the South Pole Station. Yurisnight.net described the party as for "people who are excited about the past, present, and future of space travel."

The Geophysical Institute held its event in their auditorium, and provided juice, cookies, Easter candy, and a showing of the movie, "The Red Stuff," which is the definitive biography of Yuri Gagarin. Of the many celebrations, UAF holds a special record.

"We're the farthest north," said organizer Debi-Lee Wilkinson, "but the South Pole still has us beat for extreme polar."

This is the first Yuri party held at UAF, and next year Wilkinson hopes to have more of a dance party like the ones held across the country. "For a lot of places, its an adult party. This is for all ages," she said.

Wilder parties happened all over the nation that night. One in Washington D.C. advertised a dance party compete with a vodka bar and space presentations all in honor of space exploration.

Wilkinson said she thought showing the film was important to teach a younger generation the struggles of the cold war and how space travel was affected by it. "This was at a time when the USA and Russia were at war with each other, and it was thought that if one could launch a man into space, they could launch a missile over the ocean."