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The Real Pirates of the Caribbean

Khalid Elhassan January 7, 2020 32 min

8. Appearances Make the Man

Blackbeard’s fame and notoriety are due in large part to his looks. His appearance was notable and terrifying, with his most defining feature being the thick and long black beard from which he derived his nickname. He was in the habit of tying it in braids, each decorated with ribbons.

Blackbeard further enhanced his ferocious image by slinging six pistols across his chest, thrusting a variety of knives and daggers in his belt and, wielding a wicked looking cutlass. To top it off, he attached slow burning matches to his beard, which sputtered and emitted thick smoke, and made him appear even more demonic. It was a psychologically effective display: many ships surrendered at first sight of the ferocious, crazy looking, bearded, and smoke spewing pirate.

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.