Happy Birthday, Bleep!

Sputnik 1 was launched fifty years ago, when I was just too young to appreciate it. And when I say just too young, I do remember Sputnik 2 (incorporating Laika the Dog) which was launched on 3 November the same year, which must surely be the earliest news item I can recall. I expect my mother chatted about it to me; its having a dog in it would have made it more interesting to her (and of course to tiny me) than a mere bleeping sphere.