I think you mean the Soviets were first. It's rather ironic to credit an individual with such an achievement when he was a citizen of a nation which denied the existence of individualism. Especially so when one considers it was a government program which put him in order. However, extreme irony and contradiction are recurrent themes in communism.
Google may celebrate Yuri Gagarin -as the Soviets did, but it is really Marxism-Leninism's achievement -and celebration.