Sputnik 1

[Lohan2008]

Sputnik 1 (Russian: "áÿутýøú-1" Russian pronunciation: [ˈsputnʲɪk], "Satellite-1") was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was a 58 cm (23 in) diameter polished metal sphere, with four external radio antennae to broadcast radio pulses. The Soviet Union launched it into an elliptical low Earth orbit on October 4, 1957. It was visible all around the Earth and its radio pulses detectable. The surprise success precipitated the American Sputnik crisis, began the Space Age and triggered the Space Race, a part of the larger Cold War. The launch ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_1

Happy Birthday !

[The Destroyer]

Oh neat, birthday!

[bsalis]

Well, happy birthday!

The surprise success precipitated the American Sputnik crisis, began the Space Age and triggered the Space Race, a part of the larger Cold War. The launch ushered in new political, military, technological, and scientific developments.

I wouldn't say it was just an American "crisis", more a Western one really. To add to the developments you listed, there was also a big push in Education, especially in the STEM fields. Which was a quite a positive outcome.

[mythbusters844]

Happy birthday Sputnik 1!

I discovered this when I went on Wikipedia to look for something then saw this in the "On this day..." section in the homepage. I started looking around the forums then found this
57th anniversary right?

[lajoswinkler]

Did you know that really not many people actually saw it? They mostly saw the equipment that deployed it. The Sputnik 1 itself was very dim. Probably the people in the countryside, away from the light pollution, saw everything - the booster, the satellite and the protective cap, following one another as they raced across the night sky. It must've been a hell of a sight.