World Amateur Radio Day April 18th

[Linnea]

Sunday, April 18, marks World Amateur Radio Day--the 79th anniversary of
the founding of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU). As it begins
its 80th year, the IARU is recognizing radio amateurs worldwide as
"Pioneers in Bridging Barriers to World Understanding."

The IARU's inaugural meeting took place in Paris on April 18, 1925, when
exploration of "the short waves" was just beginning. "Radio amateurs were
well ahead of their commercial counterparts in exploiting the
long-distance capabilities of this unique part of the radio spectrum," the
IARU notes. "The technical contributions of the amateurs were very
important to subsequent telecommunication development, and remain so
today."

Equally significant are the personal relationships that have developed
between amateurs, often across geographical, political, cultural, and
other barriers. Today there are nearly three million amateur licensees in
nearly every country of the world. Radio amateurs continue to build and
maintain personal ties in a world that is in ever greater need of mutual
understanding.

A worldwide federation of national Amateur Radio organizations
representing radio amateurs in 159 countries, the IARU is a Sector Member
of the International Telecommunication Union
<http://www.itu.int/home/index.html> and is the recognized representative
of the Amateur and Amateur-Satellite Services at the ITU. For more
information, visit the IARU Web site <http://www.iaru.org>

*from arrl newsletter