Tuesday, June 03, 2008

What's wrong with kids now days?

John King was the world's youngest pirate.

According to Wiki, King "joined the crew of Samuel "Black Sam" Bellamy while still a juvenile, and is the youngest known pirate on record.

"On November 9, 1716, Bellamy and his crew, sailing the sloop Mary Anne (or Marianne), attacked and captured the Antiguan sloop Bonetta, which was then en route from Antigua to Jamaica. John King, then aged between eight and eleven, was a passenger on the Bonetta. According to Abijah Savage, the Bonetta's commander, the pirates looted the ship for 15 days, during which time King demanded to join Bellamy's crew. "(F)ar from being forced or compelled (to join)," Savage wrote in his report, "he declared he would kill himself if he was restrained, and even threatened his Mother, who was then on board as a passenger."

Related:
Remains Identified as a boy pirate - Boston.com
The Littlest Pirate - unmuseum.org