Blackbeard

Little is known of Teach's early life, but by 1716 he was sailing under Captain Benjamin Hornigold out of New Providence in the Bahamas, soon commanding his own captured sloop. When Hornigold retired in 1717, Teach seized a French slave ship called La Concorde, renamed her Queen Anne's Revenge, mounted 40 guns, and crewed her with over 300 men. He blockaded Charles Town, South Carolina, ransoming the port's inhabitants, then ran his flagship aground near Beaufort and accepted a royal pardon in Bath, North Carolina. The retirement didn't take. Back at sea, he drew the attention of Virginia's governor Alexander Spotswood, who sent Lieutenant Robert Maynard and a small force to end him. On 22 November 1718, after a ferocious fight at Ocracoke, Teach and several of his crew were killed - closing the brief, brutal career of a man who understood that reputation could do the work of violence.