| Every April 18th, radio amateurs worldwide take to the airwaves in celebration of World Amateur Radio Day. On this day in 1925 the International Amateur Radio Union was formed in Paris, with members from 25 countries, growing to 160 member societies today. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has recognized the IARU as representing the interests of Amateur Radio, now organized in three IARU regions, representing over three million license holders. Thanks to the work of pioneering Amateur Radio experimenters in the early years of last century it was discovered that ionospheric propagation on shortwave allowed signals to travel much greater distances than the lower frequencies then used by telephone companies and broadcasters. In order to prevent Amateur Radio to be being pushed aside by commercial and national interests, Amateur Radio pioneers met in Paris in 1925 and founded the IARU. That ensured that at the 1927 International Radiotelegraph Conference Amateur Radio secured the frequency allocations in the 160, 80, 40, 20, and 10 meter bands IRTS |
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