This event marked a major milestone in the space race between the United States and the Soviet Union. On October 4, 1962, the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik 19 satellite into orbit. This satellite was the first artificial satellite to be launched into space and marked the beginning of the space age
From Wikipedia
Sputnik 1, often referred to as simply Sputnik, was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program. It sent a radio signal back to Earth for three weeks before its three silver-zinc batteries became depleted. Aerodynamic drag caused it to fall back into the atmosphere on 4 January 1958.