Svetový deň rádioamatérov vyhlásila Medzinárodná únia rádioamatérov (IARU). This organization was founded in Paris on April 18, 1925, and the eighteenth day of this month is our holiday.
Amateur radio, also called HAM radio, is a type of radio communication service, serving the purposes of self-education, mutual communication and technical study of amateurs, ktorí sú oprávnenými osobami so záujmom o rádiotechniku výhradne z osobného záujmu a bez finančného prospechu. Je to záľuba, ušľachtilá činnosť, ktorá zvyčajne postihne človeka na celý život.
Čo znamená slovko “HAM", so often used among radio amateurs? It is a simple abbreviation consisting of the first letters of the surnames of three American radio amateurs, members of the Harvard Radio Club, Messrs. Hyman, Almy and Murray, who used it a hundred years ago to identify their station on the air. This abbreviation became so popular that when Mr. Hyman lobbied the US Congress in 1911 for more accommodating legislation regarding American amateur radio broadcasting, almost all the senators debating on this topic referred to the issue under discussion as in connection with HAMs, with radio amateurs.