Overview
Boy Scouts
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Youth movement founded by Baden‐Powell in 1908. Baden‐Powell was inspired to establish the Boy Scouts by the interest shown in his army training manual, Aids to Scouting, and by the example of the Boys' Brigade. He held a trial camp on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour from 29 July to 9 August 1907. The following year Baden‐Powell established the Boy Scouts and wrote Scouting for Boys. Within two years there were 100,000 members. Unlike the Boys' Brigade, he believed that drilling boys destroyed individuality. Other branches were added to the organization; the Wolf Cubs in 1914, the Rover Scouts in 1919, and the Beavers in 1982. Today the movement has spread to 150 countries and has around 16 million members.