Ahoy, matey, don't forget today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day.
Who was the most successful pirate that ever lived? Not Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard, nor Captain Kidd nor Calico Jack, nor perhaps any other male pirate. That honor could arguably be given to Ching Shih, also known as Cheng I Sao, a female pirate. Whereas Blackbeard was decapitated after losing a battle with anti-pirate forces led by Robert Maynard and Captain Kidd and Calico Jack, who gave us the emblematic Jolly Roger pirate flag, were hanged, Ching Shih died in comfort of natural causes after a very successful career as a pirate.
In her heyday as a pirate, Ching Shih's Red Flag fleet numbered more than 1,500 ships and she controlled upwards of 80,000 sailors. She was able to repel numerous attack by the Chinese navy as well as the many Portuguese and British bounty hunters brought in to help capture her. Finally, in 1810, the Chinese government tried a different tactic and offerred her amnesty if she would give up the life of a pirate. She accepted and opened a gambling house. She died of natural causes in 1844 at the age of 69, a successful businesswoman and grandmother.
References:
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Ching Shih
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia -
Most successful pirate was beautiful and tough
Date: August 27, 2007
Features Articles from CNN -
Blackbeard
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia -
Robert Maynard
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia -
William Kidd
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia -
Calico Jack
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia -
Jolly Roger
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
