Today's a day every American can get behind. It's National Girl Scout Day, and unlike most quasi-holidays, this one's backed by history.

On this day in 1912, Juliette "Daisy" Gordon Low registered 18 girls into the first Girl Scouts troop in Savannah, Ga. — an action many recognize as the start of the organization. Inspired by the Girl Guides of England, Low sought to bring such an organization and pastime to American girls.

In the leadup to the historic moment, she famously called her friend (and future Girl Scout commissioner of Savannah) Nina Pape, saying, "Come right over. I've got something for the girls of Savannah, and all America, and all the world, and we're going to start it tonight."

Boy (err, Girl), did she have something for the girls of America. A former scout could better describe the lasting impact an outdoor-, athletic- and civic-minded organization has for young women in any era, but the simple existence of such a group has benefited young women since its founding. Particularly at a time when girls were largely limited to French, cooking and sewing (excellent skills, but hardly the upper limit of anyone's abilities), the Scouts have been there to encourage young women to seek excellence in civics, athletics, agriculture, sailing and writing. And in more avenues as the years have progressed.

Those merit badges have never been cutesy feel-good assignations, either. Early boatswain badge earners had to be able to row, steer and land a boat, and tell directions by the stars. A civics badge required, in part, naming each officer of the presidential cabinet "and their portfolios." (How many Americans can do that?) To get a scribe badge, a girl might wait a year (worthy of a patience badge), as she wrote 12 news articles, ideally one each month, on Scouts-related activities. And she had to learn to write concisely; articles had a 500-word cap. News editors in the making.

And if that sounds too lofty to you, one of the five earliest badges was a dairy merit, which required a girl to "test five cows for ten days each with (the) Babcock Test and make proper reports." Oh, and she also had to be able to "feed, kill, and dress poultry." Girl Scouts are learned and capable.

Of course, Low and Pape's legacy had another lasting impact for all Americans — one they couldn't have predicted, and hardly their most important, but deeply appreciated all the same.

I'm talking about those Girl Scout Cookies of course.

I doubt the lesson in commerce (and delicious American gluttony) is the most poignant in many scouts' tenure, but it sure is a public service. It's a long-standing tradition of self-funding in Scouts history, too.

According to the Girl Scouts website, in 1917 some troops began to use cookie sales to finance their activities, in addition to raising funds for charity or service projects. In 1922, the Chicago Scouts director Florence E. Neil published an article in The American Girl magazine (published by the national organization) with a cookie recipe and suggestions for how to package and sell the cookies.

The earliest Girl Scout Cookies were baked by the girls themselves, with mothers serving as supervisors and sold door-to-door. Commercially baked GSCs made their debut in 1934, and scouts began developing their business skills (women in commerce in the 1930s!). From there, the marketing, business and (around the late '90s and early 200s) tech learning opportunities for girls grew.

Standardized varieties developed over the decades, but FYI Thin Mints (originally Chocolate Mints) have been a staple since at least 1951. Cookies have been kosher since the early 2000s, and Halal by 2021. The first gluten-free GSC debuted in the 2010s.

Girl Scout Cookie purchases are a longstanding American tradition of supporting young women's supplemental education and skill-building (and fun).

But let's be honest, when those boxes of Thin Mints go on sale, it feels like the gift is really for the rest of us.

Anyone know a Girl Scout who needs help earning her cookie business badge?

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Elena Johnson can be reached at ejohnson@cdapress.com.