Sputnik

Type: Event

As of November 2026, Sputnik has been mentioned in 2 episodes across 2 podcasts, first heard Jan 2026 on Timeline - World History Documentaries. Used both historically (start of space era) and as a personal marker (guest born the year Sputnik launched) to motivate interest in geopolitics/technology.

Sputnik 1, often referred to as simply Sputnik, was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program. It sent a radio signal back to Earth for three weeks before its three silver-zinc batteries became depleted. Aerodynamic drag caused it to fall back into the atmosphere on January 4, 1958.