1989    The first of 24 satellites of the Global Positioning System are placed into orbit.

1997    A Delta 2 carrying a GPS2R satellite explodes 13 seconds after launch, dropping 250 tons of burning rocket remains around the launch pad.

2000    President Bill Clinton announces that accurate GPS access would no longer be restricted to the United States military.

2000    The sport of geocaching begins, with the first cache placed and the coordinates from a GPS posted on Usenet.