The Birth of the Space Age

Sputnik 1 was the first man-made satellite.  Launched on October 4th, 1957 by the Soviet Union, Sputnik was outfitted with a simple transmitter which announced the presence of man in space.  The space race it spawned and its associated technological leaps and sprints have defined much of the latter half of the 20th century.  You can argue the benefits and the potential threats of life in the post-Sputnik age but you cannot deny that the world changed on that date.  The world became a small place.  A more dangerous place.  And to me, a more hopeful one as well.