text: "Sputnik 1 (/ˈspʌtnɪk/; Russian: Спутник-1 [ˈsputnʲɪk] "Satellite-1", or ПС-1 ["PS-1", i.e., Russian: Простейший Спутник-1 "Elementary Satellite 1"])[3] was the first artificial Earth satellite. The Soviet Union launched it into an elliptical low Earth orbit on 4 October 1957"
  
  I was alive at the time and in High School and heard its little beeps.  It was followed by the USSR launch of the dog Laika in Sputnik 2 on 3 November 1957.
  
  You are wrong.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sputnik_1  
  
  "Sputnik 1 was launched during the International Geophysical Year from Site No.1/5, at the 5th Tyuratam range, in Kazakh SSR (now known as the Baikonur Cosmodrome)."
  
  The signals continued for 21 days until the transmitter batteries ran out on 26 October 1957.[8] Sputnik 1 burned up on 4 January 1958, as it fell from orbit upon reentering Earth's atmosphere, 
  
  I was maligning the J-school graduates who can barely spell science.  But your historical knowledge on this subject is clearly deficient.