Scouting was born from the intuition of an British military officer, Lord Robert Stephenson Smith Baden Powell, aka “BP” (22 February 1857 to 8 January 1941). 

During his army career in India and South Africa, BP noticed that when fully trusted, young boys can perform wonders. In 1899, he published a book called Aids to Scouting for the scouts of the British army. Back in London, he was surprised to see that the book was being used by young men who had nothing to do with the army. These young men would ask him many questions to which he always gave very long answers. 

Working further, in July 1907 he gathered some twenty boys from diverse backgrounds on Brownsea Island off the South coast of England. He set up teams of five, called them patrols and chose a member of each to be the patrol leader.