This event marks the launch of the Sputnik 32 satellite, which took place on October 4th, 1962. This satellite was the first of its kind, and was launched by the Soviet Union as part of the Cold War Space Race. It was the first artificial satellite to be launched into
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.