National Boy Scout Day
February 8
The scouting movement began in 1907 when Robert Baden-Powell founded the scouting movement in England. According to Wikipedia, The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) is the largest scouting organization and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 2.3 million youth participants and about one million adult volunteers. The BSA was founded in 1910, and since then, about 110 million Americans participated in BSA programs at some time in their lives. BSA is part of the international Scout Movement and became a founding member organization of the World Organization of the Scout Movement in 1922.
National Potato Lover’s Day
February 8
Potatoes are native to the Americas stretching from the United States to Chili and is believed to have been cultivated in the Andes 7,000-10,000 years ago. Potatoes were introduced to Europe from the Americas in the second half of the 16th century by the Spanish. As of 2014, potatoes were the world’s fourth-largest food crop after maize (corn), wheat, and rice. There are about 5,000 potato varieties worldwide…three thousand of them are found in the Andes alone, mainly in Peru, Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile, and Colombia. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest potato grown was 7 pounds 1 ounce.
Today’s Birthdays of Note….
Jack Lemmon – Actor – born in Newton, Massachusetts
Jules Verne – Writer – born in Nantes, France
