He reached an altitude of 83 miles -- or 134 kilometers. The Kármán line, the demarcation line then used for "in space" or not, is 100 kilometers, or 62.15 miles. Unfortunately, he died upon reentry, after a parachute failure caused his capsule to strike the ground at high speed.
Before Albert II, the only previous known living beings in space were fruit flies, launched by the U.S. in a V-2 rocket suborbital flight on February 20, 1947. The flies were recovered alive.
If you're wondering, "What about Laika, the dog the Russians sent up?" She was the 1st animal to be put into Earth orbit. Albert was the 1st animal in space, but he never reached orbit.
The U.S. continued to launch "space monkeys." On September 16, 1949, Albert III died in an explosion of his V-2, below the Kármán line. On December 8, 1949, Albert IV crossed the Kármán line, but died on impact after another parachute failure.
The pre-NASA U.S. space program switched to Aerobee rockets. On April 18, 1951, Albert V died due to parachute failure. On September 20, 1951, a monkey named Yorick and 11 mice failed to cross the Kármán line. They survived the landing, but York and 2 of the mice died shortly thereafter, from the stress of the overheated capsule. On May 21, 1952, Patricia and Mike survived, but only went up 16 miles.
There was no further attempt with a monkey until December 13, 1958: Gordo, aboard a Jupiter AM-13, reached a record height of 310 miles, and splashed down in the South Atlantic Ocean, but his parachute failed, he hit the water too hard, and he died.
On May 28, 1959, aboard a Jupiter AM-18, Miss Able and Miss Baker made it. Miss Able died 4 days later, but Miss Baker lived all the way to 1984. On December 4, 1959, Sam flew on Little Joe 2, 53 miles, not "into space," but survived. On January 21, 1960, Miss Sam flew on Little Joe 1B, but only went up 8 miles: This was simply a test of emergency procedures, which she survived.
Then the switch was made to the closest animal to humans: Chimpanzees. (All monkeys are apes, but not all apes are monkeys. "Monkeys" are distinguished by having tails. Apes, including chimpanzees and orangutans, do not.) On January 31, 1961, Ham flew on Mercury-Redstone 2, paving the way for human astronauts. He lived until 1983, and was immortalized as the "space monkey" in Billy Joel's 1989 song "We Didn't Start the Fire."
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June 14, 1949 was a Tuesday. These baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees beat the Chicago White Sox, 15-3 at Yankee Stadium. Vic Raschi, "The Springfield Rifle," went the distance for the win. Tommy Henrich went 2-for-4 with a home run and 5 RBIs. Joe DiMaggio was injured, and had yet to make his season's debut.
* The New York Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 2-0 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. Larry Jansen went the distance for the win, and went 2-for-3 in his own cause. Bobby Thomson went 3-for-4.
* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-2 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis. Gene Hermanski hit a home run. Jackie Robinson went 2-for-5 with 2 RBIs. Preacher Roe went the distance for the win. For the Cards, Stan Musial went 1-for-3 with a walk.
* The Cleveland Indians beat the Boston Red Sox, 10-5 at Fenway Park in Boston. The Tribe piled 6 runs on Joe Dobson before the Sox even came to bat, including a home run by former Yankee star Joe Gordon. Bob Feller went the distance for the win. Ted Williams went 2-for-4 with a walk and 3 RBIs.
* The Detroit Tigers beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 4-0 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Virgil Trucks allowed only 2 baserunners: A walk to Elmer Valo in the 2nd inning, and a single to Hank Majeski in the 5th. In 1952, Trucks pitched 2 no-hitters -- and otherwise went 3-19 that season.
* The St. Louis Browns beat the Washington Senators, 7-2 at Griffith Stadium in Washington.
* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Boston Braves, 4-3 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Wally Westlake went 4-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBIs. Ralph Kiner went 1-for-4.
* And the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs, 9-2 at Wrigley Field in Chicago.
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