CQ CLASSIC:
75 Years Ago – The Birth of the CQ DX Marathon
This issue includes the results of the 2021 CQ DX Marathon, the 16th running of the modern version of the competition. But its roots go much further back, to CQ’s predecessor, Radio magazine, in 1939. The first running of that event — like the current version, a year-long competition — was also the last for nearly a decade, cut off by the start of World War II and the shutting down of amateur radio in many countries. Radio emerged from the war with new owners, who focused it on broadcasting and spun off the magazine you are reading today to focus on amateur radio.
It was just about now, 75 years ago, in mid-1947, that plans were being developed to revive the DX Marathon under ’s sponsorship. This was significant because it would be the first operating activity to be sponsored
