12. The Boy Scout Handbook contained numerous tips which would later be called lifehacks
In the United States, the first edition of what is known as the Boy Scout Handbook first appeared in 1910, as the Official Handbook for Boys: A Handbook of Woodcraft, Scouting, and Life-craft. It drew heavily on the earlier British Scouting for Boys by Lord Baden-Powell, though it Americanized much of its predecessor’s British flavor. While many of the hacks it presented were for situations unique to scouting activities, others applied to everyday life, and are still useful today. Some applied to the kitchen in the home as much as when preparing food beside a campfire. One such example is determining if eggs were fresh.
Few things are as detrimental to an appetite for eggs in any form as the revelation that one is rotten. Though clearly stamped use by dates has greatly reduced the probability of encountering a rotten egg in the modern kitchen, the possibility still exists. When in doubt as to the freshness of an egg, the Boy Scouts recommended simply immersing it in water. Fresh eggs sink to the bottom, while those of dubious quality float on their ends. Floating eggs thus identified could be discarded without opening them and revealing the unappetizing mess hidden within the shell.