About Helen Sharman
Helen Patricia Sharman is a British chemist and cosmonaut who became the first British person, first Western European woman and first privately funded woman in space, as well as the first woman to visit the Mir space station, in May 1991. After responding to a radio advertisement asking for applicants to be the first British space explorer, Sharman was selected for the mission live on ITV, on 25 November 1989, ahead of nearly 13,000 other applicants. Sharman was 27 years and 11 months old when she went into space, making her (as of 2017) the sixth youngest of the 556 individuals who have flown in space. Since Juno was not an ESA mission, Tim Peake became the first ESA British astronaut more than 20 years later. Sharman broke several records including; Sharman spent the eight years following her mission to Mir self-employed, communicating science to the public.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.