History's most famous pirate was a pirate for only about two years.
Blackbeard appears in records in 1716 and died in 1718 — and there is no reliable account of him killing anyone he held captive.
The events
- Blackbeard blockades Charleston1718 · Charleston. In May 1718 Edward Teach, known as Blackbeard, blockaded the port of Charleston for about a week, seizing ships and hostages. For ransom he demanded not gold but a chest of medicines — and got it. Six months later he was killed in a fight off Ocracoke Island.
- The Republic of Piratesc. 1706–1718 · Nassau. In the early 1700s pirates took over New Providence island, home to Blackbeard, Charles Vane, Anne Bonny and hundreds more. Order rested on pirate articles, and captains were elected. In 1718 Governor Woodes Rogers arrived offering royal pardons, and the republic collapsed.
More amazing facts
- 1712 Sweden once had a 30 February.
- 1712 · 1853 Britain taxed soap for nearly a century and a half.
- 1714 · 1773 The longitude problem that baffled astronomers was solved by a self-taught carpenter.
- 1717 George I liked Handel's Water Music so much he had it played three times in a row. In July 1717 some 50 musicians performed it on a barge following the king along the Thames.
- 1718 Blackbeard held the people of a whole city hostage — and asked for a chest of medicine.
- 1718 · 1727 Blackbeard and Isaac Newton were contemporaries.