In 1996, recognizing the importance of GPS to civilian users as
well as military users, U.S. President Bill Clinton issued a policy
directive declaring GPS to be a dual-use (military and civilian)
system and establishing an Interagency GPS Executive Board to
manage it as a national asset.
On May 2, 2000 "Selective Availability" was discontinued as a
result of the 1996 executive order, allowing civilian users to
receive a non-degraded signal globally. 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.
On May 3, 2000 Dave Ulmer placed the very first geocache,
The Original Stash, a black bucket, in the woods near Beaver
Creek, Oregon. Along with a logbook and pencil, he left various
prize items including videos, books, software, a can of beans and a
slingshot. He shared the waypoint of his "stash" with the online
community on sci.geo.satellite-nav, and Geocaching was born.
Although that original bucket was severely damaged by an Oregon
Road Crew mower and is no longer around, the importance of that
first hide was recognized, and a plaque was placed and dedicated at
the site of the original hide.
The Original Stash Tribute Plaque cache is the most visited
traditional cache in the world.
You can read more about the history of geocaching HERE.
Join us for a celebration and have a
piece of cake, TEN YEARS TO THE DAY, of
Dave Ulmer's very first hide!
When: Monday, May 3rd, 2010
Time: 7:00pm - ??
Where: Round Table Pizza, 8822 Madison Avenue, Fair Oaks (in
the shopping center at the southwest corner of Madison and Hazel
Ave.)
In addition to a wide variety of great pizzas, Round Table offers
appetizers, a salad bar, a kid's menu, and a variety of gourmet
sandwiches.
Round Table Pizza has graciously offered a 15% discount for
all food orders for the festivities, provided the order is made at
least 4 hours prior to the event! If you'd like to take advantage
of this discount, their order phone number is: (916) 962-2700.
(Make sure you place your food order no later than 3:00
PM.)
- Mention that your order is for the
festivities so you can get the discount. Pizza and food menus can
be seen online at their website.
This event is meant to be very relaxed and kick back. Come
and go as you please, stay as long as you want, but at precisely
7:30 pm a group photo will be taken in order to qualify for the
special 10 Year Anniversary icon that GroundSpeak is awarding to
qualified event attendees.
Those guidelines are:
- Events must be held April 30 - May 3, 2010.
- The name of the event needs to be formatted this way: "10
Years! 'location'." For example: 10 Years! Seattle, WA or 10 Jahre!
Munich, Germany.
- At least 10 people must attend the event.
- Flashmobs do not qualify.
- A video or picture must be taken at the event. At least 10
attendees must be in the video/photo along with a legible sign
showing the event coordinates and location name.
- The people in the video or photo should be festive. Be
inventive! But please keep it family friendly.
We hope you can join in the fun in celebrating the 10th
Anniversary of Geocaching!
Teaser Video (Stay Tuned!)
View it in HD by selecting 720p and then double click inside the
video to view full screen.