1. Although Hollywood pirates, such as Jack Sparrow’s friends, like to grumble “arrr” frequently, real pirates were not known to do so.
2. Pirates may have thrown men overboard, but no one was ever known to have “walked the plank”. Again, this one is a Hollywood myth.
3. Pirates pierced their ears, with precious metals like silver and gold, because it was believed that it improved their eyesight.
4. The most successful pirate ever was probably Bartholomew Roberts, known as Black Bart. He captured around 400 ships in the 1720s.
5. Pirates believed that having women on board their ship brought bad luck. Women, therefore, had to disguise themselves as men. However, there have been some extremely powerful women pirates, such as Ching Shih, Anne Bonny and Mary Reed, documented in the history of piracy.
6. They also believed that whistling on a ship would turn the weather stormy. The phrase ‘to whistle up a storm’ owes its origin to this.
7. The Jolly Roger is the most famous pirate flag. The skull and crossbones came from the symbol used in ships’ logs, where it represented death on board.
