# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/william-baffin
# Generated: 2026-09-07T20:26:25.906Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/william-baffin"
name: "William Baffin"
slug: "william-baffin"
description: "He sailed into Arctic waters hunting the passage that would cut weeks off the trip to Asia, and instead found a bay so vast it now carries his name — though for two centuries after, mapmakers thought his measurements were lies."
tagline: "British explorer"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Hendrick_van_der_Borcht%2C_Navigator_with_Globe_and_Dividers.jpg"
gender: "male"
category:
  name: "Historical Figures"
  slug: "historical-figures"
profileType:
  name: "Historical Figure"
  slug: "historical-figure"
  entityType: "https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q2798645"
birthDate: "1584"
deathDate: "1622-01-23"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           54.75
  momentum:             7.731958762886599
  historical:           21.860984
  currentAttention:     42.9553264604811
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  60
  trendDirection:       "RISING"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
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    slug: "historical-figures"
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    slug: "scientist"
  - name: "Chemistry"
    slug: "chemistry"
  - name: "Literature"
    slug: "literature"
  - name: "Early Modern Era"
    slug: "early-modern-era"
sources:
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    title: "Уільям Бафін"
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    title: "Уилям Бафин"
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    title: "William Baffin"
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    title: "William Baffin"
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    title: "William Baffin"
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    title: "William Baffin"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "William Baffin"
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    title: "William Baffin"
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    title: "William Baffin"
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    title: "ویلیام بافین"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Baffin"
    title: "William Baffin"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
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    title: "William Baffin"
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    title: "William Baffin"
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    title: "William Baffin"
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    title: "William Baffin"
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    title: "وليام بافين"
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# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Born around 1584, Baffin learned navigation on merchant and whaling ships before turning his attention to the great geographic puzzle of his age: whether a northwest route through the ice could link the Atlantic to the Pacific. In 1616 he pushed farther north than any European before him, charting coasts and recording observations with such precision that later explorers doubted them possible. The expedition failed to break through to open water, and Baffin turned to other work — sailing east to the Persian Gulf, where he died during a skirmish in January 1622. The bay he discovered remained on maps, waiting for his name.