| Founders' Day back to 'Events'
Founder's Day was first celebrated in 1920 on 10th April (the anniversary of William Booth's birth in 1829), when Salvationists in every country were asked to pause for a moment to give thanks for the gift of William Booth to the world.
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In the following year, Founder's Day was again celebrated on William Booth's birthday.
In 1922, Founder's Day was observed on 20th August (the tenth anniversary of William Booth's promotion to Glory), when special meetings were to be held in every corps to honour the Founder's memory.
There does not appear to have been a Founder's Day celebration in 1923, but, in 1924, Founders' Day changed from being a specific celebration of William Booth and was moved to 5th July to celebrate the birth of The Salvation Army, which began in the open-air on Mile End Waste in 1865.
In East London, young people marched to Mile End to salute the General, Bramwell Booth, near the spot where his father stood 59 years earlier as a solitary preacher in the midst of East London's seething throng. Women Salvationists made a pilgrimage to the grave of Catherine Booth in Abney Park.
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Salvationists in Nottingham, William Booth's birthplace, honoured the Founder's memory by a demonstration in the public parks. The plural, Founders' Day, was adopted to recognize the part played not only by William and Catherine Booth but by all the Christian Mission pioneers.
From 1924 to 1939, Founders' Day continued to be celebrated on 5th July, but, from 1940 onwards, Founders' Day changed to 2nd July, which according to Colonel Robert Sandall, the Army's historian, was the anniversary of the first Tent Meeting at which William Booth preached on the Quaker Burial Ground in Whitechapel.
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The first Tent Meeting at which William Booth preached
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