4 Years Alone on an Island

In October 1704, a Scottish sailor named Alexander Selkirk made an impossible choice. He demanded to be left on a deserted island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean — alone — because he believed his ship was going to sink. His captain was happy to leave him behind. For four years and four months, Selkirk survived alone on an island 670 kilometers from the nearest human settlement. He hunted goats with his bare hands. He tamed wild cats to protect him from rats. He made clothes from animal skins and sang psalms to keep his ability to speak. When two Spanish ships found the island, he hid in a tree while soldiers searched below. When an English ship finally rescued him in 1709, he could barely form a sentence. But the most incredible part of his story? The ship he had refused to stay on — the Cinque Ports — sank shortly after leaving him. Most of the crew drowned. The survivors were captured, tortured, and imprisoned by the Spanish. The man who chose the island lived. The men who chose the ship died. His story inspired one of the most famous novels ever written: Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. This is Mindfall — episode four. 🔔 Subscribe for stories that haunt your mind. Sources: Woodes Rogers, "A Cruising Voyage Round the World" (1712). Richard Steele, The Englishman (1713). World History Encyclopedia. National Geographic. Smithsonian Magazine. #Mindfall #AlexanderSelkirk #RobinsonCrusoe #TrueStory #Castaway #Survival #DesertIsland #History