Late in the afternoon (New York time) of October 4, 1957, the Soviet Union launched the world's first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1. It survived in space only until January 1958, but it set off what became, for a decade, the so-called "Space Race". Today many nations have some sort of spacecraft flying, with rockets made in the USA, Russia, France, China and Japan being the leaders. Other countries that have launched with their own rockets include Britain, Italy, Israel, and India. When Sputnik 1 was launched, several attempts were made in the United States to record its "beep" as it flew over. The first successful recording was made by NBC from a facility in Riverhead, Long Island. This required over two hours driving time to get into Manhattan, where it could be broadcast. Meanwhile, as Sputnik rose higher in the sky over North America, its message was recorded by the ham radio station of Columbia University, W2AEE. The tape was then walked one block across campus to the student-run FM station, WKCR (99.5 FM). WKCR broadcast the tape repeatedly that evening, the first radio station in the United States to carry the signal from the satellite. The next morning (Oct. 5) at a couple minutes past 9 am, two FBI agents walked into the station, flashed their badges, and demanded the tape of "that Russian thing in space". In that long gone era, even Columbia students yielded to the FBI. Thanks to Thomas Hamilton.