William Dampier (1651-1715) was an English explorer, navigator, and naturalist, who was the first person to circumnavigate the world three times. He was also among the first Englishmen to step foot on Australian soil when he sailed into King Sound (near present-day Broome, Western Australia) on the Cygnet in 1688.
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Definition
Timeline
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1651William Dampier is born in East Coker, Somerset, England.
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1672William Dampier joins the Royal Navy and takes part in maritime encounters during the Third Anglo-Dutch War.
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1674William Dampier manages a sugar plantation in Jamaica, then joins a band of buccaneers.
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1676William Dampier makes the first recognised scientific observation of a hurricane.
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1688William Dampier's first visit to New Holland on the Cygnet, a British privateer.
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1699William Dampier's second visit to New Holland aboard HMBS Roebuck.
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1701Court-martial & enquiry into the sinking of HMBS Roebuck.
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1703William Dampier returns to bucanneering.
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1708William Dampier's third and final voyage, circumnavigating the world once more.
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Feb 1709Alexander Selkirk is rescued from the Juan Fernández Islands by Woodes Rogers during his privateering circumnavigation.
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1 Jan 1710The English privateer Woodes Rogers captures the Manila galleon Nuestra Señora de la Encarnación Disengaño.
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1715William Dampier dies in London at age 63.
