Today marks the 50th anniversary of Sputnik 1, the very first man-made satellite placed in geocentric orbit around the earth, and probably the first significant encroachment of man into space - testing the waters of the final frontier.

With no prior announcement, and coming literally out of the blue, the launch of Sputnik by the USSR took everyone by surprise - particularly the terrified American public, who panicked at the idea that their communist foe's technology could be more advanced than their own. The vulnerability felt in the US at that time translated into the speedy creation of NASA, and the immediate commencement of the space race, culminating in the eventual triumph of America's moon landing in 1969. In the meantime, the basic technology pioneered in Sputnik went on to change our world in many other ways, as satellites were developed to provide global communication on a scale that was barely imaginable before Sputnik's launch.

It had a good name, too - Sputnik. Happy birthday!