He
spent 28 years on a remote tropical island, a castaway who had to
deal with cannibals, pirates, and mutineers before he was finally
rescued and brought back to England.
He
is also a fictional character!
In
1719 Daniel Defoe published a book that he named The
Life and Strange Surprizing Adventures of Robinson Crusoe, of York,
Mariner: Who lived Eight and Twenty Years, all alone in an
un‐inhabited Island on the Coast of America, near the Mouth of the
Great River of Oroonoque; Having been cast on Shore by Shipwreck,
wherein all the Men perished but himself. With An Account how he was
at last as strangely deliver'd by Pirates.
(We sensible modern types just call it Robinson
Crusoe!)
The
book was probably inspired by the real-life adventures of the
Scottish castaway Alexander Selkirk, who lived for four years on a
Pacific Island off the coast of Chile. Defoe probably based his
fictional island on the Caribbean island of Tobago, because the
latter is a short distance from South America, near the mouth of the
Orinoco River, and is in sight of Trinidad. However, the island that
Selkirk really lived as a castaway, which used to be named “Mas a
Tierra,” was renamed Robinson Crusoe Island in 1966.
Why
is today considered Robinson Crusoe Day? Was February 1 the fictional
birthday of Crusoe, or the real-life birthday of author Defoe? No.
Was it the anniversary of the first publication of the book? No.
Actually, February 1 was the date of the 1709 rescue of Alexander
Selkirk. To commemorate the rescue on this day, we are urged to be
adventurous and self-reliant every day.
- To hear the story of Robinson Crusoe, go to Candlelight Stories. (There are also quick summaries and illustrations offered on the website.)
- For some resources and activities to celebrate this day, check out Living Life at Home.
Also
on this date:
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