Pirate ships had lots of canons and guns – and then there was the inevitable shouting and swearing.

It was a tense atmosphere, especially when they encountered another ship.

So pirates would hang wads of wax from their earrings which they could then stuff in their ears to muffle any loud sounds.

These crafty criminals of the seas found a way to make money while caring for their fellow crooks. They had an insurance fund funded by the spoils of whatever it was they plundered.

The idea was that everyone would have a fund they could depend on when injured. It all depended on how much they were willing to give in the first place.

We’re pretty sure it didn’t always work this way, but there’s written evidence that it took place on some ships.

Pirates spent their lives on the edge of death. If they weren’t fighting, they were on the run.

They may spend their lives on the water but not a single one wanted to sink to the bottom when death came. Not in Davy Jones’ Locker.

As it turns out, those shiny earrings served as insurance which could be used to pay for a casket and other burial expenses, with some even preferring to be buried in their homeland.

Pirates lived their lives surrounded by other men so it’s no surprise that some of them got intimate and shared feelings towards each other.

Pirates made same-sex relations legal with a practice called matelotage. It’s a French word possibly connected to the root of the greeting “Ahoy mate.”

The two men would share their loot, even receiving death benefits.

Ships used flags to communicate with other ships. Yet not even the baddest pirate wanted to see that red flag.

That meant that no mercy was to be given to enemies and prisoners. That was a sign for captives to abandon ship – if they could.

Living on the world’s oceans meant that pirates had to be creative in making money. One way they did this was by taking people hostage.

Even Julius Caesar was once held ransom by pirates!

His ransom was 20 talents, even though the Roman VIP insisted he was worth 50! Eventually, Caesar got his revenge, crucifying his captors for the glory of Rome.

Edward Teach had the reputation as the baddest of them all. And hemp was part of his image (yep, you read that right).

His ship was the Queen Anne’s Revenge, and the way he terrorized other ships made him the stuff of legend.

But part of his ploy to look scary was to weave hemp into his beard and under his hat, which he’d then light on fire, making smoke billow from his face. That was before he’d draw a pistol or sword.

It is true that some pirates would lose an eye. Living such a dangerous life full of illegal activities would eventually cost a pirate. But some wore patches for another reason.

Pirates would cover one eye to help them see at night. Adjusting from light to dark and back could mean the loss of loot or death.

And if you’ve had enough rum before, you might notice that closing one eye makes things less blurry.

The British Navy started making grog in the 1600s to avoid drinking contaminated water. They mixed rum with water, and sailors were given about five shots of rum a day for their use.

Naturally, the pirates copied the formula, this time adding lemon and sugar. It tasted better and made their lives a bit more bearable at sea. (And the lemon helped them avoid scurvy.)

There’s only one pirate ever recorded to have buried treasure.

William Kidd hid his loot off the coast of Long Island. But a former ally found his loot, dug it up, and used it as evidence against his former friend.

Pirates loved their earrings and were quite superstitious about their hoops. And there were lots of myths and tales about those hoops.

From curing bad eyesight to preventing seasickness, pirates even believed gold earrings prevented drowning.

Of course, none of their tall tales ever proved to be true.

Pirates stole necessities and whatever else helped them survive. Food, alcohol, and weapons, wood, clothes, and even kitchenware were of practical use, so any ship they came across was fair game if it looked well-stocked.

Only one shipwreck revealed real riches. The Whydah Gally is the world’s only authenticated pirate ship, and it was found off the coast of Cape Cod in 1984, 260 years after it went missing to be exact. And it was full of coins.

Women had swords and sailed ships out on the seas as well.

Anne Bonny and Mary Read sailed on the ship Revenge in 1720. Anne Bonny served as the first mate while Mary Read dressed as a man to hide her identity.

But they were eventually captured and sent to jail. There, Bonny blamed the captain, Calico Jack, telling him, “Sorry to see you there, but if you’d fought like a man, you would not have been hang’d like a Dog.”

He was executed, but she earned a stay of execution because she was pregnant. There is no record of her execution.

Museum curator David Moore made a great point: the famous pirates are the ones who got caught.

The whole point of their criminal affairs was to escape and live off of others loot. Moore says, “The reason many [pirates] became famous was because they were captured and tried before an Admiralty court. Many of these court proceedings were published, and these pirates’ exploits became legendary. But it’s the ones who did not get caught who were the most successful in my book.”

The skull and crossbones might be the most famous pirate flag, but there are other versions of that banner.

Blackbeard himself had his own version, featuring a skeleton toasting the devil while spearing a bleeding heart.

Other pirates had red skeletons, hourglasses, or even men standing on skulls. Some had multiple skulls, others had more detailed swords, or even a cup.

Pirates did leave enemies and prisoners on small lands in the middle of nowhere as punishment.

Marooning meant a slow, agonizing death. Disgraced pirates who violated the ship’s rules or attempted to betray the captain were marooned.

All they were left with was clothes, some water, and a weapon.

Suicide was an option, but it was considered cowardly. It was rare for a marooned pirate to be rescued.

Sure, they were pretty much crooks on ships preying on innocent sailors and villages. But pirates could still participate in land activities requiring social interactions with innocent folk. Some of them at least.

Scholar Daphne Palmer Geanacopoulos found records of prominent pirates, contributing as “prominent members of Colonial society.”

One such pirate was Captain Kidd, who helped found Trinity Episcopal Church. He even had a personal pew for himself and his family.

It’s mostly Hollywood that’s responsible for that idea that pirates made people walk the plank. They had many other methods of torture. And if an execution was in order, it was done swiftly.

The most common method of torture was keelhauling. The victim would be thrown in the water and dragged underneath the boat with a rope. If the person didn’t die, they were sure to be maimed.

Fighting from time to time would surely result in the loss of limbs. Absent appendages would get replaced with wooden pegs or hooks, since they could still prove useful in other matters.

Those makeshift appendages could also be a sign of loyalty, often being given to them by the captain or crew as compensation for loss of limb.

Pirates would take anything and everything they could find, but maps were really valuable to them. A Spanish atlas from 1680 was “extremely valuable pirate booty” that “overjoyed” pirates when they took it. This was written about in detailed journals.

Maps, charts, and descriptions of different places filled the manuscript. And for pirates at sea, that information was equivalent to today’s Google Maps.

There were no refrigerators on those ships, nor did pirates have clean spaces to store food.

Food onboard had to last them for a long time, so pirates relied on cured meats and fermented vegetables. There certainly weren’t any animals to provide them with milk, eggs, or fresh meat.

There really was a pirate code. It varied from ship to ship, depending on the captain and his needs.

Most rules are related to disciplinary practices and the splitting of loot.

What’s more surprising is a curfew. Captain Bartholomew “Black Bart” Roberts drafted a code saying, “the lights and candles [are] to be put out at eight o’clock at night; if any of the crew, after that hour still remained inclined for drinking, they were to do it on the open deck.”

All those months at sea, with only occasional stops at ports, would have any pirate restless. There would be bands on board and even theater was welcome, though how those performers found their way on the ship is another story. They may have been a raucous bunch but they still needed entertainment.