On this day, 3rd of November 1957, the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) launched a rocket containing the dog Laika in it.
Laika was a Siberian husky cross breed dog, picked up from the streets of Moscow for a one way trip in Sputnik 2.
Laika died shortly after the launch of overheating a fact kept from the public until 2002.
Prior to her fatal space flight Laika had been prepared by confining her in smaller and smaller cages for up to 20 days.
