Edward Everett Hale Publishes "The Brick Moon," the first Fictional Account of an Artificial Satellite

In October 1869 American writer Edward Everett Hale began serializing his novella, The Brick Moon, in The Atlantic Monthly. Narrated by a fictional scientist and presented as a journal, the novella described the construction and launch into orbit of a sphere, 200 feet in diameter built of bricks. Originally intended as a navigation aid, the sphere was accidentally launched with people aboard. The Brick Moon was first published  in The Atlantic Monthly in three parts (October, November and December, 1869) with the sequel, "Life on the Brick Moon", appearing two months later February, 1870.