World Amateur Radio Day

| April 14, 2013

On 18 April, World Amateur Radio Day celebrates the forming of the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) on 18 April 1925.

international-amateur-radio

This year the theme is Entering Its Second Century of Disaster Communications. This commemorates the first known use of amateur radio in a disaster situation when, in March 1913, the Scioto River in Columbus, Ohio flooded its banks, killing more than 100 people. According to local newspapers, Herbert Akerberg, a 15-year-old from Hilltop, Ohio used his home radio transmitter to send SOS calls via Morse code for nearly 72 hours. His actions were highly commended by the city authorities and his achievement widely heralded over the country as a new contribution to the comparatively new science of radio.

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