Celebrating BLUE SWITCH DAY and 24 Years of Caching!
At Tim Hortons, Bloomfield Shopping Centre, Bangor
on Friday, 3rd May 2024
7.00 pm – 7.30 pm and probably a bit later!
There is no need to buy anything. But you may be persuaded to imbibe something tasty!
Background
We often underestimate our reliance on GPS (Global Positioning System), yet, over the course of 24 years, it has fundamentally reshaped our lives and the world we inhabit.
Imagine how different our daily routines would be without GPS technology. Among many other things, paper maps would be necessary to navigate from point A to point B and turn-by-turn delivery tracking would be impossible. Notably, geocaching would never have come into existence.
This transformation traces back to a pivotal moment on 2nd May, 2000—dubbed BLUE SWITCH DAY by geocachers. Before May 2000, Selective Availability restricted accurate GPS technology to military use. However, on Blue Switch Day, the U.S. government made a landmark decision which opened up accurate GPS technology for public use. Geocachers commemorate this day as a milestone, marking it with pride and celebration.
The advent of precise GPS technology brought a new era of possibilities, fostering innovation and exploration worldwide. It’s no coincidence that the very next day, on 3rd May, 2000, the first geocache was hidden, giving birth to the game of geocaching.
To Mark this Milestone
Geocaching HQ has created a SOUVENIR for geocachers to celebrate BLUE SWITCH DAY 2024. You can earn this souvenir by attending THIS EVENT or by finding and logging ANY cache between 2nd and 5th May.
So, why not join us on Friday, 3rd May to earn THIS SOUVENIR, and enjoy time spent chatting with other cachers?