On this day in 1959, two years after the Russians sent a dog into orbit, the United States of America demonstrated their own aeronautical ingenuity by making "Mr. Pebbles" the first cat in space.

600 miles up our intrepid feline joined the meteors in orbit, traveling at speeds of 18,000 miles an hour. A shocked Russian community could only look on in awe as America once again flexed its extraordinary might.