Today in History- January 24th BOY SCOUTS MOVEMENT BEGINS: January 24, 1908 On January 24, 1908, the Boy Scouts movement begins in England with the publication of the first installment of Robert Baden-Powell's Scouting for Boys. The name Baden-Powell was already well known to many English boys, and thousands of them eagerly bought up the handbook. By the end of April, the serialization of Scouting for Boys was completed, and scores of impromptu Boy Scout troops had sprung up across Britain.In 1900, Baden-Powell became a national hero in Britain for his 217-day defense of Mafeking in the South African War. Soon after, Aids to Scouting, a military field manual he had written for British soldiers in 1899, caught on with a younger audience. Boys loved the lessons on tracking and observation and organized elaborate games using the book. Hearing this, Baden-Powell decided to write a nonmilitary field manual for adolescents that would also emphasize the importance of morality and good deeds.First, however, he decided to try out some of his ideas on an actual group of boys. On July 25, 1907, he took a diverse group of 21 adolescents to Brownsea Island in Dorsetshire where they set up camp for a fortnight. With the aid of other instructors, he taught the boys about camping, observation, deduction, woodcraft, boating, lifesaving, patriotism, and chivalry. Many of these lessons were learned through inventive games that were very popular with the boys. The first Boy Scouts meeting was a great success.With the success of Scouting for Boys, Baden-Powell set up a central Boy Scouts office, which registered new Scouts and designed a uniform. By the end of 1908, there were 60,000 Boy Scouts, and troops began springing up in British Commonwealth countries across the globe. In September 1909, the first national Boy Scout meeting was held at the Crystal Palace in London. Ten thousand Scouts showed up, including a group of uniformed girls who called themselves the Girl Scouts. In 1910, Baden-Powell organized the Girl Guides as a separate organization.The American version of the Boy Scouts has it origins in an event that occurred in London in 1909. Chicago publisher William Boyce was lost in one of the city's classic fogs when a Boy Scout came to his aid. After guiding Boyce to his destination, the boy refused a tip, explaining that as a Boy Scout he would not accept payment for doing a good deed. This anonymous gesture inspired Boyce to organize several regional U.S. youth organizations, specifically the Woodcraft Indians and the Sons of Daniel Boone, into the Boy Scouts of America. Incorporated on February 8, 1910, the movement soon spread throughout the country. In 1912, Juliette Gordon Low founded the Girl Scouts of America in Savannah, Georgia.In 1916, Baden-Powell organized the Wolf Cubs, which caught on as the Cub Scouts in the United States, for boys under the age of 11. Four years later, the first international Boy Scout Jamboree was held in London, and Baden-Powell was acclaimed Chief Scout of the world. He died in 1941. ------------------------------------------------------------------ MORE GENERAL INTEREST 1965 Winston Churchill dies 1972 Japanese soldier found hiding on Guam historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=general&month=10272953&day=10272989 AMER. REVOLUTION 1781 “Light Horse” and “Swamp Fox” raid Georgetown, South Carolina historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=americanrevolution&month=10272953&day=10272989 AUTOMOTIVE 1907 136 Miles Per Hour On A Bicycle? historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=automotive&month=10272953&day=10272989 CIVIL WAR 1865 Confederate Congress to resume prisoner exchanges historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=civil&month=10272953&day=10272989 COLD WAR 1980 U.S. announces military equipment sales to China historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=coldwar&month=10272953&day=10272989 CRIME 1943 Murder on the Southern Pacific Express historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=crime&month=10272953&day=10272989 ENTERTAINMENT 1927 First Alfred Hitchcock film opens historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=entertainment&month=10272953&day=10272989 LITERARY 1862 Edith Wharton is born historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=literary&month=10272953&day=10272989 OLD WEST 1848 Gold discovered at Sutter's Creek historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=oldwest&month=10272953&day=10272989 PRESIDENTIAL 1970 Nixon honors Eugene Ormandy historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=presidential&month=10272953&day=10272989 VIETNAM WAR 1966 Operation Masher/White Wing/Thang Phong II launched historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=vietnamwar&month=10272953&day=10272989 WALL STREET 1994 The Ax Falls at Nynex historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=wallstreet&month=10272953&day=10272989 WORLD WAR I 1915 British and German navies battle at the Dogger Bank historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=worldwari&month=10272953&day=10272989 WORLD WAR II 1943 Von Paulus to Hitler: Let us surrender! historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=worldwarii&month=10272953&day=10272989