Many recurring events are mentioned only the first time they were held.
August 2002
| 1857 | February 22, Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell born in Paddington, London England. |
| 1889 | February 22, Olave St. Clair Soames was born. She married Baden-Powell in 1912. |
| 1907 | Baden-Powell's experimental camp, Brownsea Island, England, August 1-9. |
| 1908 | "Scouting for Boys" published. Boy Scouts office opened in London. |
| 1916 | Cub section started. "Wolf Cub's Handbook" published. |
| 1919 | Gilwell Park acquired. Start of leaders' training courses. |
| 1920 | 1st World Jamboree, Olympia, London, England,
8,000 participants. Baden-Powell acclaimed Chief Scout of the World. 1st International Scout Conference; 33 national Scout organizations represented. Boy Scouts International Bureau founded, London, England. |
| 1921 | International magazine "Jamboree" first published (title changed to "World Scouting" in 1955, and now is World Scouting News). |
| 1922 | 1st International Committee elected (at 2nd
International Conference, Paris, France). 30 national Scout
organizations represented. First world census: 1,019,205 members in 31 countries. Venture Scouts started (Rovers). |
| 1924 | 2nd World Jamboree, Copenhagen, Denmark, 4,549
participants. 3rd World Scout Conference, Copenhagen Denmark. 34 national Scout organizations represented. |
| 1925 | International Scout Chalet opened, Kandersteg, Switzerland. (Now known as the Kandersteg International Scout Centre) |
| 1926 | 4th World Scout Conference, Kandersteg, Switzerland. 29 national Scout organizations represented. |
| 1929 | 3rd World Jamboree, Birkenhead, England. 50,000
participants. 5th World Scout Conference, Birkenhead, England. 33 national Scout organizations represented. Baden-Powell given peerage; takes title Lord Baden-Powell of Gilwell. |
| 1931 | 6th World Scout Conference, Vienna-Baden, Austria. 44 national Scout organizations represented. |
| 1933 | 4th World Jamboree, Gödöllö, Hungary. 25,793
participants. 7th World Scout Conference, Gödöllö, Hungary. 31 national Scout organizations represented. |
| 1935 | 8th World Scout Conference, Stockholm, Sweden. 28 national Scout organizations represented. |
| 1937 | 5th World Jamboree, Vogelenzang-Bloemendaal,
Netherlands. 28,750 participants. 9th World Scout Conference, The Hague, Netherlands. 34 national Scout organizations represented. |
| 1939 | 10th World Scout Conference, Edinburgh, Scotland. 27 national Scout organizations represented. |
| 1941 | Death of Baden-Powell, January 8. |
| 1946 | 1st Inter-American Conference, Bogota, Colombia. |
| 1947 | 6th World Jamboree (Jamboree of Peace), Moisson,
France. 24,152 participants. 11th World Scout Conference, Château de Rosny, France. 32 national Scout organizations represented. |
| 1949 | 1st Agoon (International camp for handicapped
Scouts) Lunteren, Netherlands. 12th World Scout Conference, Elvesaeter, Norway. 25 national Scout organizations represented. |
| 1950 | World membership reached 5 million in 50 countries. |
| 1951 | 7th World Jamboree, Bad Ischl, Austria. 12,884
participants. 13th World Scout Conference, Salzburg, Austria. 34 national Scout organizations represented. |
| 1952 | 1st Caribbean Jamboree, Kingston, Jamaica. 14th World Scout Conference, Vaduz, Liechtenstein. 35 national Scout organizations represented. |
| 1954 | 1st Arab Jamboree, Zabadani, Syria. |
| 1955 | 8th World Jamboree, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Canada.
11,139 participants. 15th World Scout Conference, Niagara Falls, Canada. 44 national Scout organizations represented. |
| 1957 | 9th World Jamboree (Jubilee, 50th Anniversary of
Scouting), Birmingham, England. 30,000 participants. 16th World Scout Conference, Cambridge, England. 52 national Scout organizations represented. World Scout Bureau moved to Ottawa, Canada. |
| 1958 | 1st Far East Regional Conference, Baguio,
Philippines. 1st Jamboree-on-the-Air (JOTA) |
| 1959 | 10th World Jamboree, Mt. Makiling, Philippines.
12,203 participants. 17th World Scout Conference, New Delhi, India. 35 national Scout organizations represented. |
| 1960 | 1st European Regional Conference, Altenberg, Germany. |
| 1961 | 18th World Scout Conference, Lisbon, Portugal. 50 national Scout organizations represented. |
| 1963 | 11th World Jamboree, Marathon, Greece. 14,000
participants. 19th World Scout Conference, Rhodes, Greece. 52 national Scout organizations represented. |
| 1965 | 1st Pan-American Jamboree, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 20th World Scout Conference, Mexico City, Mexico. 59 national Scout organizations represented. |
| 1967 | 12th World Jamboree, Farragut State Park, Idaho,
U.S.A. 12,011 participants. 21st World Scout Conference, Seattle, Washington, U.S.A. 70 national organizations represented. |
| 1968 | World Scout Bureau headquarters moved to Geneva, Switzerland. |
| 1969 | World membership reached 12 million. 22nd World Scout Conference, Otaniemi, Finland. 60 national Scout organizations represented. |
| 1970 | 1st Africa Conference, Dakar, Senegal. |
| 1971 | 13th World Jamboree, Asagiri Heights, Japan.
23,758 participants. 23rd World Scout Conference, Tokyo, Japan. 71 national Scout organizations represented. World Organization membership passes 100 member countries. |
| 1972 | 1st International Community Development Seminar, Cotonou, Dahomey (now Benin). |
| 1973 | 1st Environment Conservation seminar, Sweden. 24th World Scout Conference, Nairobi, Kenya. 77 national Scout organizations represented. |
| 1975 | 14th World Jamboree (Nordjamb '75), Lillehammer,
Norway. 17,259 participants. 25th World Scout Conference, Lundtofte, Denmark. 87 national Scout organizations represented. |
| 1977 | 26th World Scout Conference, Montreal, Canada. 81
national Scout organizations represented. Death of Lady Olave Baden-Powell, June 25. |
| 1979 | World Jamboree Year: Join-in-Jamboree around the
world. 27th World Scout Conference, Birmingham, England. 81 national Scout organizations represented. |
| 1981 | UNESCO Prize for Peace Education resented to WOSM. 28th World Scout Conference, Dakar, Senegal. 74 national Scout organizations represented. |
| 1982 | Rotary International honours Scout Movement. |
| 1982-3 | Year of the Scout - 75th Anniversary of Scouting. |
| 1983 | 15th World Jamboree, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
14,752 participants. 29th World Scout Conference, Dearborn, Michigan, U.S.A. 90 national organizations represented. |
| 1984 | Rotary Award for World Understanding. The International Association of Lions Clubs honours Scouting. |
| 1985 | UN International Youth Year (1st worldwide
programme to be implemented with the World Association of Girl
Guides and Girl Scouts). 30th World Scout Conference, Munich Germany. 90 national Scout organizations represented. |
| 1986-7 | A child health programme entitled "help
children grow" introduced with the World Association of
Girl Guides and Girl Scouts and UNICEF. Membership in World Organization reaches 120 countries. |
| 1988 | 16th World Jamboree, New South Wales, Australia.
13,434 participants. Scouting is honoured by United Nations Environment Programme in recognition of the Movement's outstanding environment achievements. 31st World Scout Conference, Melbourne, Australia. 77 national Scout organizations represented. Implementation of the resolution on "Towards a Strategy for Scouting". Emphasis on Scouting with the handicapped. Several seminars took place all over the world for the promotion of health and handicapped. |
| 1989 | Special Peace Week: Scout activities related to
education for peace. 7th Africa Scout Conference in Lomé, Togo. Scouting makes celebrations to mark the adoption of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and encourage its ratification by national governments. |
| 1990 | 32nd World Scout Conference, Paris, France. 1,000
participants representing 100 member countries and guests from
seven other countries. Opening of an Information Centre in Moscow. Formal agreement, the Kigali Charter, between 23 Scout and Girl Guide associations for the promotion of programmes of cooperation in the form of twining projects. Memberhsip in World Organization reaches 131 countries "Operation of Solidarity" to enable 1,235 children irradiated by the Chernobyl disaster to be the guests of Scouts and Girl Guides in 15 European countries, in collaboration with UNESCO, the Soviet Children's Fund and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. |
| 1990-1 | World Scout Environment Year. 8th World Moot, near Melbourne, Australia. 1,000 young adult Scouts from 36 countries. A feature of the Moot was the World Youth Forum. |
| 1991 | Creation of the World Scout Parliamentary Union,
Korea at its constituent assembly gathering 60 parliamentarians
and Scouting officials from 22 countries on 5 continents. 17th World Scout Jamboree, Mount Sorak National Park, Republic of Korea. 20,000 participants representing 135 countries and territories. Introduction of the Global Development Village. |
| 1992 | 9th World Moot, Kandersteg International Scout
Centre, Switzerland. 1,400 participants from 52 countries. 35th JOTA: at the invitation of the World Federation of Great Towers, Scouts and Guides had the opportunity to communicate from the tops of 13 towers around the world using the newest communication systems including videophone and television as well as amateur radio. For the first time all five Regional Scout Conferences met in the same year and all will now meet on a triennial basis in the year preceding World Scout Conferences. Creation of Scout Resources International (SCORE), the official Scout Shop of the World Organization. |
| 1993 | 33rd World Scout Conference, Bangkok, Thailand,
with more than 1,000 participants from 99 member countries. Opening of a World Scout organization office in Yalta-Gurzuf in Crimea covering the CIS and related countries. |
| 1994 | International symposium on "Scouting: Youth
without Borders, Partnership and Solidarity", Marrakech,
Morocco. 440 participants representing 118 Scout associations
from 94 countries. Adoption of the Marrakech Charter to enhance
partnership. Signature of an agreement with UNICEF on Oral Rehydration Therapy, Geneva, Switzerland. The International Public Relations Association bestowed its annual President's Award on to WOSM for "outstanding contribution to better world understanding". |
| 1995 | 18th World Scout Jamboree, Netherlands. 28,960
Scouts, leaders and staff attended from 166 countries and
territories. Operation Flevoland pemitted Scouts from 50
countries to participate. Signing of an agreement of co-operation between the World Scout Organization and United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. Celebrations of the 50th Anniversary of the UN. Youth Forum held by the UN in Geneva, Switzerland; approximately 2/3rd of delegates were or had been Scouts or Girl Guides. |
| 1996 | 6th World Youth Forum, Moss, Norway. 34th World Scout Conference, Oslo, Norway, with more than 1,000 participants from 108 member countries. 10th World Scout Moot, Sweden. 1st Mongolian Jamboree. 1,200 participants. Membership in World Organization reaches 140 countries. |
| 1997 | 90th Anniversary of Scouting. Creation of the Eurasia World Scout Region, serving the 12 countries of the C.I.S. 1st official Jamboree on the Internet (JOTI). Signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the World Health Organization, AHM (Leprosy Relief Organization) and WOSM to eliminate leprosy. Opening of an Operations Centre in Dakar, Senegal to serve French Speaking associations in West Africa. 2nd World Scout Parliamentary Union General Assembly, Manila, Philippines. WOSM and four other youth Organizations launch programme to promote the value of non-formal education. |
| 1998 | New "World Scout Pin" launched. 19th World Scout Jamboree held in Picarquin, Chile. |
| 1999 |
WOSM member countries reach 152. Peace Cruise in the Eastern Mediterranean |
| 2000 |
11th World Scout Moot, Mexico. 5,000 participants, 71 countries 3nd World Scout Parliamentary Union General Assembly, Warsaw, Poland. |
| 2002 |
WOSM member countries: 154 8th World Scout Youth Forum, Greece |