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First satellite in space by USSR
the Soviet Union launched the earth's first artificial satellite, Sputnik I. -
First animal in space by USSR
the second-ever orbiting spacecraft carried the first animal into orbit, the dog Laika, launched aboard the Soviet Sputnik 2 spacecraft. -
First satellite in space by USA
Explorer 1 was the first satellite launched by the United States in 1958 and was part of the U.S. participation in the International Geophysical Year. -
Creation of NASA
President Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act of 1958 establishing the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. -
First animal in space by USA (Ham the chimp)
Ham made a publicity splash after NASA stipulated his short, suborbital trip, which NASA required before the United States could put its first person in space. -
First man in space by USSR
Yuri Gagarin, , Soviet cosmonaut who in 1961 became the first man to travel into space. -
First man in space by USA
U.S. Navy test pilot Alan Shepard joined the astronaut program in 1959. He became the first American and the second man in space -
First man to orbit Earth by USA
John H. Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth during the three-orbit Mercury-Atlas 6 mission, -
JFK's speech and commitment to getting to the moon
speech by United States President John F. Kennedy to bolster public support for his proposal to land a man on the Moon before 1970. -
First man to do an EVA by USSR
The first EVA was performed on March 18, 1965, by Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, who spent 12 minutes and 9 seconds outside the Voskhod 2 spacecraft. -
First man to do an EVA by USA
US astronaut Edward White (1930–67) was the first American to perform an “extra-vehicular activity” (EVA), or spacewalk. On June 3, 1965, White opened the hatch of his Gemini 4 spacecraft and pulled himself out into space.