On 17 July 1995 the US Air Force declared that the Global Positioning System (GPS), a constellation of 24 satellites orbiting at 20,200 km, had reached full operational capability. Developed by the US Department of Defense from 1973, with the first satellite launched in 1978, it allows a receiver to calculate its position to within metres by measuring the time signals from at least four satellites, which carry atomic clocks that must be corrected for relativity. Until May 2000 the signals were deliberately degraded for civilians. GPS is now used for navigation, surveying, timing of financial transactions and power grids, and in every smartphone, as well as the European Galileo, Russian GLONASS and Chinese BeiDou.
Before and after
- from 25 May 1995 to 26 May 1995May 1995 Pale air strikes
- 8 June 1995Creation of PHP
- 24 June 1995Nelson Mandela presents the Rugby World Cup to South Africa's captain
- July 1995Srebrenica massacre
- 17 July 1995The Global Positioning System reaches full operational capability
- from 21 July 1995 to 23 March 1996Third Taiwan Strait Crisis
- 23 July 1995Discovery of Comet Hale-Bopp
- from 25 July 1995 to 29 July 1995Operation Summer '95
- from 4 August 1995 to 7 August 1995Operation Storm
More in Science & technology
- 1971Email
- 1973Mobile phone
- 20 November 1985Creation of Microsoft Windows
- July 2000Discovery of livermorium
- 15 January 2001Wikipedia
- 20 October 2004Creation of Ubuntu
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 20th century.