Alexander Selkirk

Sailor / Castaway

Born: c. 1676
Died: 12 December 1721 (yellow fever (?))
Birthplace: Lower Largo, Fife, Scotland
Best known as: The model for Robinson Crusoe
A true-life castaway, Alexander Selkirk was the inspiration for Daniel Defoe's novel Robinson Crusoe. While sailing with English privateers in 1704, Selkirk quarrelled with his captain and asked to be put ashore on an uninhabited island off of South America. He took with him a musket, a hatchet, and a few utensils. There he survived alone for over four years before being rescued by another English ship, with whom he sailed for two years before returning home.

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