My how we’ve grown: 100 years of amateur radio licensing

This morning, I was reminded that 2012 marks the 100th year of amateur radio licensing. In his January 2012 editorial, K1ZZ writes,

August 13 [2012] will mark another centenary: the approval of the Radio Acto of 1912 that required for the first time that radio stations be licensed. Today, we take great pride in being a federally-licensed radio service that can only be entered by examination, but at the time, it was regarded as the end of amateur radio. Enacted  two years before the founding of the ARRL, the legislation was intended to curb amateur activity not only by requiring licenses, but also placing severe restrictions on private, non-commercial stations. In the four months following its passage, just 1,185 amateur station licenses were issued in the United States, representing a fraction of the stations known to be active at the time.

Well, I just checked AHOA.org, perhaps the best source for licensing data, and as of November 7, 2012, there close to 707, 000 licensed radio amateurs in the U.S. My how we’ve grown!

Now, we just have to get these folks on the air…