William D. Boyce was an American newspaper man, entrepreneur, magazine publisher, and explorer. He was the founder of the Boy Scouts of America and the short-lived Lone Scouts of America. Born in Plum Township, Pennsylvania and an astute businessman, Boyce successfully established several newspapers. He moved to Chicago to pursue his entrepreneurial ambitions. There he established the Mutual Newspaper Publishing Company and the weekly Saturday Blade. With his novel employment of newsboys to boost newspaper sales, Boyce's namesake publishing company maintained a circulation of 500,000 copies per week by 1894. By the early years of the 20th century, Boyce had become a multi-millionaire and had taken a step back from his businesses to pursue his interests in civic affairs, devoting more time to traveling and participating in expeditions. In 1909, he embarked on a two-month trip to Europe and a large photographic expedition to Africa with photographer George R. Lawrence and cartoonist John T. McCutcheon. Boyce learned about Scouting while passing through London, England during his first expedition to Africa in 1909. From its start, Boyce focused the Scouting program on teaching self-reliance, citizenship, resourcefulness, patriotism, obedience, cheerfulness, courage, and courtesy in order "to make men". After clashing over the Scouting program with Chief Scout Executive James E. West, he split from the BSA and founded the LSA in January 1915, which catered to rural boys who had limited opportunities to form a troop or a patrol. In June 1924, a merger was completed between the BSA and the struggling LSA.
Read the rest of this article: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_D._Boyce> _______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries: 1487: Lancastrian forces defeated Yorkist supporters at the Battle of Stoke Field in East Stoke, Nottinghamshire, England, the final battle of the Wars of the Roses. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Stoke_Field> 1745: King George's War: British colonial forces led by William Pepperrell captured the French stronghold at Fortress Louisbourg on Cape Breton Island after a six-week siege. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortress_of_Louisbourg> 1815: Napoleonic Wars: French forces under Napoléon defeated Blücher's larger Prussian army in the Battle of Ligny, while French Marshal Michel Ney earned a strategic victory against the Anglo-Dutch army in the Battle of Quatre Bras. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Ligny> 1904: Irish author James Joyce began his relationship with Nora Barnacle, and subsequently used the date to set the actions for his 1922 novel Ulysses. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Joyce> 1963: Aboard Vostok 6, Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentina_Tereshkova> _____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day: rosette (n): 1. An imitation of a rose by means of ribbon or other material, used especially as a badge. 2. (architecture) An ornament in the form of a rose or roundel. 3. (botany) One or more whorls of leaves, clustered tightly at the base of a plant <http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/rosette> ___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day: When you're 50 you start thinking about things you haven’t thought about before. I used to think getting old was about vanity — but actually it's about losing people you love. Getting wrinkles is trivial. --Joyce Carol Oates <http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joyce_Carol_Oates> _______________________________________________ Wikipedia Daily Article mailing list. To unsubscribe, visit: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/daily-article-l Questions or comments? Contact [email protected]
