Hat tip to J Michael Antoniewicz II, for calling this one to my attention:
Fifty years ago today — February 16, 1961 — the Explorer-9 inflatable sphere was launched into orbit on a Scout rocket from Wallops Island, Virginia.
Explorer-9 was the first spacecraft orbited from the Virginia launch facility, and the first placed in orbit by an all-solid-fuel launch vehicle.
Thanks for flagging this for me!
by 
