You might be a fan of Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. But did you know that real-life pirates were even more daring and charismatic? For example, Edward Teach, better known as Blackbeard, reportedly kept a lit fuse under his hat, creating a frightening haze of smoke around his head. William Fly, convicted of piracy in 1726, had to show his executioner how to tie the noose that went around his neck at the gallows.
Pirates...