February 16, 1962 – Russia selects several women for cosmonaut training

On February 16, 1962, several female civilians were sent a telegram to report to Lt. Gen. Kamanin for training to become cosmonauts. They were all parachutists. Among the women were: Tatyana Kuznetsova, Valentina Ponomaryova, Irina Solovyova, Valentina Tereshkova, and Zhanna Yerkina. The only woman who would fly would be Valentina Tereshkova.

Valentina Tereshkova is seen with other cosmonauts; Gagarin, Titov, Nikolayev and Popovich. Image credit: ebay auction item