On This Day

First Scout camp opens on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour, Dorset

Brownsea Island is the largest of the islands in Poole Harbour, in the county of Dorset, England.

Brownsea Island is the largest of the islands in Poole Harbour, in the county of Dorset, England. The island is owned by the National Trust, with the northern half managed by the Dorset Wildlife Trust. Much of the island is open to the public and includes areas of woodland and heath with a wide variety of wildlife, together with cliff top views across Poole Harbour and the Isle of Purbeck.

The island was the location of an experimental camp in 1907 that preceded the publication of Scouting for Boys and The Scout magazine in 1908. Access is by public ferry or private boat; in 2017 the island received 133,340 visitors. The island's name probably comes from Old English Brūnoces īeg = "Brūnoc's island".

Historical Significance

Brownsea Island is the largest of the islands in Poole Harbour, in the county of Dorset, England.

Events Before

  1. Dutch law makes a driver's license mandatory

    Dutch law makes a driver's license mandatory

  2. Composer Igor Stravinsky (23) weds Yekaterina Nosenko

    Composer Igor Stravinsky (23) weds Yekaterina Nosenko

  3. British battleship HMS Dreadnought launches after only 100 days and renders all other capital ships obsolete with its re

    British battleship HMS Dreadnought launches after only 100 days and renders all other capital ships obsolete with its revolutionary design

  4. 26th US President Theodore Roosevelt's daughter Alice marries in the White House

    26th US President Theodore Roosevelt's daughter Alice marries in the White House

  5. Film director D. W. Griffith (31) weds Linda Arvidson (21) at Old North Church in Boston, Massachusetts

    Film director D. W. Griffith (31) weds Linda Arvidson (21) at Old North Church in Boston, Massachusetts

Events After

  1. Henri Farman becomes the first person to fly an observed circuit of more than 1km, winning the Grand Prix d'Aviation

    Henri Farman becomes the first person to fly an observed circuit of more than 1km, winning the Grand Prix d'Aviation

  2. Katie Mulcahey is arrested for lighting a cigarette, violating the one-day-old "Sullivan Ordinance" banning women from s

    Katie Mulcahey is arrested for lighting a cigarette, violating the one-day-old "Sullivan Ordinance" banning women from smoking in public, and is fined $5. Appearing before the judge, she states, “I’ve got as much right to smoke as you have. I never heard of this new law, and I don’t want to hear abo

  3. Lieutenant General Robert Baden-Powell publishes "Scouting for Boys" as a manual for self-instruction in outdoor skills

    Lieutenant General Robert Baden-Powell publishes "Scouting for Boys" as a manual for self-instruction in outdoor skills and self-improvement. The book becomes the inspiration for the Scout Movement.

  4. King Carlos I of Portugal and his heir, Prince Luís Filipe, are assassinated by Republican sympathizers in Terreiro do P

    King Carlos I of Portugal and his heir, Prince Luís Filipe, are assassinated by Republican sympathizers in Terreiro do Paço, Lisbon

  5. Italian football club Inter Milan is founded as Football Club Internazionale

    Football Club Internazionale Milano, widely referred to as Internazionale or simply Inter, and commonly known as Inter Milan outside Italy, is an Italian professional football club based in Milan,…

More from the 1900s

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened on August 1, 1907?
Brownsea Island is the largest of the islands in Poole Harbour, in the county of Dorset, England. The island is owned by the National Trust, with the northern half managed by the Dorset Wildlife Trust. Much of the island is open to the public and includes areas of woodland and heath with a wide variety of wildlife, together with cliff top views across Poole Harbour and the Isle of Purbeck.
Why is First Scout camp opens on Brownsea Island in Poole Harbour, Dorset significant?
Brownsea Island is the largest of the islands in Poole Harbour, in the county of Dorset, England.

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