:lol Just reading an argument about who won the space race. Plenty of people think the US "won", although most informed people will admit the USSR was first in everything except landing on the moon.
The one fact nearly everybody is ignorant of is that the Germans crossed the Karman line (which is technically higher than the US definition of outer space) in 1944 with an A4 rocket (aka V-2). If you just stick to the US definition of outer space (80km above sea level), an A4 reached the 84km mark in 1942. Highest altitude reached during the war? 170+ km.
These rockets, the associated technology and scientists later became the basis for the US space program.