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What was the first animal sent into space?

A dog named Laika was the first animal sent into space. The small female Russian Samoyed, who traveled in a pressurized cabin aboard the Soviet artificial satellite Sputnik 2,was launched on November 3, 1957. Laika became the first living creature to go into orbit. Unfortunately, the trip ended badly for the pioneering dog—she died a few days into the voyage. Both the Soviet Union and the United Stated needed to test space flight with animals before allowing humans to make such a voyage. As the Soviets experimented with dogs, the United States decided on a monkeys for a flight in 1958. Two female monkeys, Able and Baker, made the American maiden voyage into orbit aboard the spacecraft Jupiter on May 28, 1959. They returned alive, having traveled 300 miles (483 kilometers).

Further Information: Kallen, Stuart A. The Giant Leaps: The Race to...

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1. The Americas
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   2. Were the Vikings the first Europeans to reach North America?
   3. Were the Spaniards the first Europeans to reach North America after the Vikings?
   4. When was the first authenticated European landing in North America?
   5. Why did Spain authorize Columbus to search for a westward route to the Indies?
   6. Where did Columbus first land in the New World?
   7. Did Columbus make any important discoveries in the Americas?
   8. Why does controversy surround Christopher Columbus?
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   13. Who was Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca?
   14. Who was Montezuma?
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   9. Who were the first people to reach the North Pole?
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   11. Who was the first person to reach the summit of Mount Everest?
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   4. What caused more Irish people to emigrate to the United States in the mid-1800s?
   5. When did major waves of immigration to the United States occur?
   6. How many immigrants arrived at Ellis Island, and what did they experience there?
4. Air And Space
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   2. When did aviator Amelia Earhart disappear?
   3. When did the space age begin?
   4. Who was the first person to travel in space?
   5. Who was the first man to walk on the Moon?
   6. Who was the first woman in space?
   7. What was the first animal sent into space?
   8. What was the impact of the Challenger disaster on the U.S. space program?
   9. Why was the Mars Pathfinder project important?
   10. What new discoveries have been made by the Hubble Space Telescope?

1. Christopher Columbus