Joshua Slocum

Joshua Slocum was born in February 1844 in Nova Scotia, Canada, and became a U.S. citizen in 1869. He grew up in a traditional seafaring family. At the age of 14, he left home to embark on a fishing vessel but quickly returned to his family, whom he permanently left at 16 after his mother's death. He worked as a sailor on various ships. He was the first person to sail solo around the world with his sailboat, the Spray, which he rebuilt himself. In 1900, he wrote the book "Sailing Alone Around the World," which immediately became a global bestseller and is considered a classic of travel literature. It has been translated into many languages. J. Slocum was lost at sea in November 1909 while traveling with his sailboat.