The History of Geocaching
On May 2, 2000, at approximately midnight, eastern daylight savings time, the “great blue switch” controlling the selective availability of signals from navigation satellites was pressed. Twenty-four satellites around the globe processed their new orders, and instantly the accuracy of GPS technology improved tenfold. Tens of thousands of GPS receivers around the world had an instant upgrade. Now anyone could precisely pinpoint their location almost anywhere on the surface of the earth.
On May 3rd a computer engineer, and outdoor enthusiast, placed a black bucket in the woods somewhere in Oregon and published its geographic location (longitude and latitude) online. In that bucket, along with a logbook and pencil, he left various prize items including videos, books, software, and a slingshot. Within three days, two different readers read about it, used their own GPS receivers to find the container, and shared their experiences online. Throughout the next week others, excited by the prospect of hiding and finding stashes, began hiding their own containers and posting coordinates online.
It did not take long for the term Geocaching to be coined. The prefix geo, for Earth, was used to describe the global nature of the activity, and caching, from the French word cache, referred to a place used to store items. A new sport was born.
In the ensuing years the sport of geocaching has grown worldwide and the website www.geocaching.com is the main resource for enthusiasts. If you would like more information on the sport we suggest you take a look at the website. You will find general information under the Getting Started menu tab which appears on the upper left of the home page. |
