69 Years Ago (1957): First living creature orbited Earth – Laika the Dog on Sputnik 2

The Soviet Union launched Sputnik 2, carrying a stray dog named Laika into space. She became the first living creature to orbit the Earth. While the mission provided critical data proving that living organisms could survive orbital insertion, it was not designed for recovery, and Laika passed away from overheating hours into the flight.