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The Real Pirates of the Caribbean

Khalid Elhassan January 7, 2020 32 min

9. History’s Most Famous Pirate Was Nowhere Near to Being Its Most Successful

Blackbeard, real name Edward Teach (circa 1680 – 1718), is probably the most famous pirate of all time. His actual career accomplishments as a pirate, however, were few, far in between, and relatively miniscule.

Blackbeard started his career as a privateer. He became an out and out pirate in 1716, when he joined the crew of Benjamin Hornigold, who mentored him and taught him the ropes of piracy. Blackbeard soon became first mate and second in command, and was entrusted with his own sloop to operate in conjunction with Hornigold’s main ship.

Written by

Khalid Elhassan

A lifelong history buff, I developed a particular passion for WW2 history as a child, when I spent hours listening to my grandfather, enraptured, as he recounted his wartime experiences in the British East African Campaign and with the British 8th Army in North Africa.

I graduated with a history BA from George Mason University, then went on to get a JD from the University of Virginia School of Law. After lawyering for a decade, I moved to sunny Rio de Janeiro and a less demanding career, opening a tourism agency in Copacabana.

A big chunk of my free time is spent blogging (you can follow me on Quora https://www.quora.com/profile/Khalid-Elhassan ) or freelance writing, mostly about my favorite subject, history.