Facts about BSA

, , Leave a comment

BSA is an abbreviated form that stands for the Boy Scouts of America. It is one of the largest youth organisations in USA having around 2.7 million youth members and about 1 million adult volunteers.

Some interesting facts about BSA are:

  • The BSA celebrates their anniversary on the 8th of February each year. It was back in 1910 that the official paper for the organisation was completed and officially formed.

  • In 1937, the first jamboree of the BSA took place in Washington D.C and attracted more than 27,000 scouts to the National Mall that is situated in the heart of the capital city.

  • As little as 5% of members of the Boy Scouts are able to achieve the rank of Eagle Scout each year.

  • 11 out of 12 astronauts from America who have walked on the moon had been boy scouts in their school days. Out of a total of 294 astronauts, more than 180 had been scouts while 40 of them earned the rank of Eagle Scout.

  • Charles Lindebergh who had been a boy scout in his youth had been awarded the Silver Buffalo Award because of his distinguished service as a scout. Other famous personalities to have received this award were astronauts Neil Armstrong and John Glenn.

  • Olympic athletes Dan Jensen, Mark Spitz and Bruce Jenner had been boy scouts in their youth.

  • Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft had been a boy scout.

  • The most common badges earned during one’s days as a scout are swimming, cooking, camping, first-aid and citizenship in the community.

  • In the 111th Congress, around 40% of the members had been boy scouts.

  • A Boy Scout law has 12 laws that require the members to abide by; these include loyalty, helpfulness, trustworthiness, obedience, cheerfulness, friendship, thrift, cleanliness, reverence and being brave.

  • In 2012, 13,449017 hours of volunteering service were reported for the Journey to Excellence.

  • The service projects undertaken by the Boy Scouts in 2012 include: litter clean-up and community beautification, community dimension, military support, conservation projects, food collection and distribution.

  • 2012 also marked the centennial year for the Eagle Scout Award.

  • In the period between 1912 and 2012, more than 2 million Boy Scouts have managed to receive the Eagle Scout Rank.

  • Boy Scout having embraced modern day technology launched its 12th edition of the Boy Scout Handbook which was made available as an iPhone application. In 1935, around 5 million copies of this handbook was sold and in a ceremony conducted in the White House, the 5 millionth copy was awarded to the then President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

  • The uniforms of Boy Scouts too have been updated to modern day standards having separate pockets for holding cell phones and mp3 players. They are made from a special moisture control fabric that has up to 50+ SPF.

  • In the initial years there existed around 57 Boy Scout Badges. Over the years the number had increased to more than 100 since every year new badges are added under the categories of math, technology and science.

Over the years this organisation has contributed much to society through its years of volunteering work.

Reference:

Tea Time Quiz

[forminator_poll id="23176"]
 

Leave a Reply