October 5, 2011 is the date on which a massive geomagnetic storm took out much of the American electrical grid, causing a loss of communication, GPS, and other machinery across the continental United States and parts of Mexico, South America, Canada, and Western Europe. The cause of the storm is not widely known, and its effects are commonly misunderstood. The geomagnetic storm is also known as "the solar event of October 5," "the sunstorm," or simply "the event" or "the storm."