So popular he had a rum named for him, Captain Morgan ruled the Caribbean seas as a privateer, then pirate, in the mid 1600s, famously wreaking havoc on the gold-laden Spanish colony of Panama City.

Despite dying at the ripe young age of 28, 'Black Sam' Bellamy made a name for himself in New World pirating with several daring ship captures, including that of the Whydah Gally, a slave ship filled with a fortune in gold, silver and other goods.

Black' Bart Robers was one of the most successful pirates of the Golden Age, patrolling the waters off Africa and the Caribbean islands, taking upwards of 400 ships in just four years.

The Most Notorious Pirates Ever Live Science

pirates were a constant scourge to the many hundreds of ships which sailed along the east coast of England, many of them heading to or from the Norfolk ports.

The basic outfit worn by all mariners didn't change much over the centuries when wooden ships with billowing sails ventured farther and…

The Most Notorious Pirates Ever Pirates, Pirate history, Pirate art

1492.

As children we were taught to memorize this year with pride and joy as the year people began living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North America.

Actually, people had been living full and imaginative lives on the continent of North America for hundreds of years before that.

1492 was simply the year sea pirates began to rob, cheat, and kill them.

Kurt Vonnegut