Captain Kidd's treasure unveiled on Google Maps

Another April Fools prank by our very own Google Maps Team. Unlike last time, when they created a 8-bit nintendo version of the Google Map, this time it was a visit to the history with a treasure map overlayed on the Google Maps. Google posted on it's Google Lat Long blog that the Google Street View team that was on an expedition in the Indian Ocean, recovered one of history's long lost relic - the treasure map of the infamous pirate Captain "William" Kidd.

Captain Kidd was rumored to have buried his treasure around the world, and tales of a long-lost treasure map have lingered for generations. Google further blogged that, since the map was confirmed to be authentic and since it contained a lot of encrypted symbols, they had digitized the and made it accessible to everyone, so that all can help in finding the long lost treasure.

The treasure mode - accessible in the top right-hand corner of the Google Maps window - includes a telescope-style Street View function, with sepia-tinged images of streets across the globe as can be seen below in a street view shot from the USA.

Google further claimed that hidden symbols can be uncovered by shining sunlight on a computer screen, by joining phone and tablet maps together like a puzzle, or even by heating a laptop over the hob. The treasure map appears very intuitive as any other Google product. Hope you all enjoyed the Google Maps prank this year.

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