His real name was Edward Teach, and he was by far the most famous pirate who ever lived. Though little is known of his life before he began his career as a pirate, most historians agree that he was born in the English around the year 1680. In the early 18th century, he left for the Caribbean, where British privateers were inflicting heavy damage on Spanish shipping. It was the beginning of a career that was brutal, glorious, and short.

In Jamaica, Teach served as a privateer under Captain Benjamin Hornigold, who gave him command of his first vessel, a sloop. He later captured a French merchanman, renamed it Queen Anne's Revenge, and converted it into his 40-gun flagship. When Britain revoked all privateering licenses in the Caribbean, Teach took the Queen Anne's Revenge and turned to outright piracy, quickly becoming the most feared pirate in the hemisphere.

He came to be known by his spectacular blackbeard, a title he cultivated to his advantage. Before going into battle, he would tie slow-burning fuses to the ends of his beard, then light them as he approached enemy vessels. Many times the mere sight of him standing on the deck, his legendary jet-black beard glowing and smoking, was enough to terrify merchant captains into immediate surrender.