Why such accuracy? Because Fyodor Mikhaylovich Dostoevsky said in a private dated letter that he wanted to use a scene with the devil in his novel The Brothers Karamazov. An intelligent and learned devil answers Ivan Karamazov’s question: “What happens to an axe in space? What an idea! If it goes anywhere farther, I think, it will fly around the Earth as a sputnik without knowing why. Astronomers will calculate the axe ascension and declination...” We do not know about astronomers but the space historians put 22 August into their calendars and celebrate the birthday of the word “sputnik” along with birthdays of astronauts and rocket launches.