1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,840 Speaker 1: Hello everyone, it's Eves checking in here to let you 2 00:00:02,880 --> 00:00:04,920 Speaker 1: know that you're going to be hearing two different events 3 00:00:04,920 --> 00:00:07,280 Speaker 1: in history in this episode, one from me and one 4 00:00:07,320 --> 00:00:09,720 Speaker 1: from Tracy V. Wilson. They're both good, if I do 5 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:13,480 Speaker 1: say so myself. On with the show. Welcome to this 6 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:16,200 Speaker 1: Day in History Class from how Stuff Works dot com 7 00:00:16,280 --> 00:00:18,800 Speaker 1: and from the desk of Stuff You Missed in History Class. 8 00:00:18,800 --> 00:00:21,120 Speaker 1: It's the show where we explore the past one day 9 00:00:21,120 --> 00:00:23,160 Speaker 1: at a time with a quick look at what happened 10 00:00:23,200 --> 00:00:30,120 Speaker 1: today in history. Hello and welcome to the podcast. I'm 11 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:34,680 Speaker 1: Tracy V. Wilson and it's November twenty two. Black Beard 12 00:00:34,720 --> 00:00:38,160 Speaker 1: died on this day in seventeen eighteen. That was, of course, 13 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:42,199 Speaker 1: the nickname of an infamous pirate named Edward Teach or 14 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:46,479 Speaker 1: perhaps Thatch. That nickname came from his big black beard, 15 00:00:46,520 --> 00:00:49,919 Speaker 1: which he was reported to accentuate with lit matches or candles. 16 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:53,680 Speaker 1: He was probably born in Bristol, England, but like a 17 00:00:53,720 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 1: lot of pirates, his origins and his early life are unclear. 18 00:00:57,680 --> 00:01:01,000 Speaker 1: He probably got his start at sea as a privateer 19 00:01:01,120 --> 00:01:03,560 Speaker 1: during Queen Anne's War, which was part of the War 20 00:01:03,640 --> 00:01:07,960 Speaker 1: of Spanish Succession, shifting to outright piracy Once that war 21 00:01:08,080 --> 00:01:11,039 Speaker 1: was over and there was no military reason for him 22 00:01:11,040 --> 00:01:15,440 Speaker 1: to be plundering French and Spanish ships anymore. He established 23 00:01:15,440 --> 00:01:17,760 Speaker 1: a base on the outer banks of North Carolina, and 24 00:01:17,840 --> 00:01:21,800 Speaker 1: his flagship, the Queen Anne's Revenge, had previously been a 25 00:01:21,840 --> 00:01:25,399 Speaker 1: French slave ship called lock On Cord. When he took 26 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:28,000 Speaker 1: this ship, he left most of the enslaved people aboard 27 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:31,840 Speaker 1: with the captain in a smaller sloop, he kept sixty 28 00:01:31,920 --> 00:01:36,080 Speaker 1: one aboard what became the Queen Ann's Revenge. It seems 29 00:01:36,160 --> 00:01:38,840 Speaker 1: as though he absorbed these people into his crew, rather 30 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:41,840 Speaker 1: than considering them to be enslaved. That was often how 31 00:01:42,319 --> 00:01:47,200 Speaker 1: pirates handled the enslaved people that they captured. They treated 32 00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:51,640 Speaker 1: them more as crew members than as enslaved workers. His 33 00:01:51,720 --> 00:01:54,360 Speaker 1: fleet had up to four ships at any given time. 34 00:01:54,480 --> 00:01:56,920 Speaker 1: They were crewed by as many as two hundred men, 35 00:01:57,440 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 1: and they plundered off the coast of North America and 36 00:02:00,000 --> 00:02:04,840 Speaker 1: in the Caribbean, becoming really notorious. The peak of his 37 00:02:04,920 --> 00:02:08,960 Speaker 1: piratical activity was from seventeen sixteen to seventeen eighteen, after 38 00:02:09,040 --> 00:02:12,840 Speaker 1: being mentored by Captain Benjamin Hornigald, when he was serving 39 00:02:12,840 --> 00:02:16,560 Speaker 1: as a member of Hornigal's crew while the nations whose 40 00:02:16,560 --> 00:02:19,960 Speaker 1: ships he was targeting feared and deplored him. For the 41 00:02:20,000 --> 00:02:23,760 Speaker 1: most part, the population of the Carolina's tolerated or even 42 00:02:23,960 --> 00:02:28,400 Speaker 1: encouraged black Bear's piracy off their coast. Local officials were 43 00:02:28,400 --> 00:02:30,880 Speaker 1: willing to take bribes to look the other way, and 44 00:02:31,000 --> 00:02:33,320 Speaker 1: his plundering of these other ships meant that the locals 45 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 1: were getting duty free goods that would be a lot 46 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:39,600 Speaker 1: more expensive otherwise, so he became something of a folk 47 00:02:39,680 --> 00:02:44,200 Speaker 1: hero locally. That started to change, though, after he blockaded 48 00:02:44,320 --> 00:02:46,920 Speaker 1: the port of Charleston in May of seventeen eighteen and 49 00:02:46,960 --> 00:02:50,200 Speaker 1: took hostages that he didn't release until the city paid 50 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:53,840 Speaker 1: a huge ransom on them. The Queen Anne's Revenge and 51 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:57,679 Speaker 1: another of black Beard's ships, the Adventure, both ran aground 52 00:02:57,840 --> 00:03:00,920 Speaker 1: not long after that, and they were lost. He had 53 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:03,000 Speaker 1: to break up a lot of his pirate company at 54 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:05,640 Speaker 1: that point, and then to try to continue doing what 55 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:08,799 Speaker 1: he was doing in a much smaller sloop. Then he 56 00:03:08,880 --> 00:03:11,880 Speaker 1: was killed in a battle in Okracoke Inlet just about 57 00:03:11,919 --> 00:03:16,920 Speaker 1: six months later, on November seventeen eighteen. What started out 58 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:20,360 Speaker 1: as a naval battle between two ships ended with heavy 59 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:24,560 Speaker 1: fighting aboard the sloop of the Royal Navy Lieutenant Robert Maynard. 60 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:28,600 Speaker 1: The pirates were lured onto this sloop after what they 61 00:03:28,680 --> 00:03:31,560 Speaker 1: had thought was a battle that they had won, but 62 00:03:31,639 --> 00:03:34,320 Speaker 1: it turned out that Maynard and several uninjured men were 63 00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:38,680 Speaker 1: hidden below decks. That final fight was very bloody, with 64 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:42,840 Speaker 1: black Beard being shot and struck with swords repeatedly before dying. 65 00:03:43,640 --> 00:03:47,400 Speaker 1: Maynard returned to Virginia afterward with black Beard's head hanging 66 00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:51,920 Speaker 1: from the bow. His body had been thrown overboard. The 67 00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:55,640 Speaker 1: wreck of the Queen Anne's Revenge was found in nineteen six, 68 00:03:55,720 --> 00:03:59,520 Speaker 1: and extensive underwater archaeological work has been done since then. 69 00:04:00,160 --> 00:04:03,040 Speaker 1: Huge numbers of artifacts have been brought to the surface 70 00:04:03,080 --> 00:04:07,000 Speaker 1: for conservation and in some cases display. The q a 71 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:10,400 Speaker 1: R Conservation Laboratory was dedicated for this purpose in two 72 00:04:10,440 --> 00:04:14,480 Speaker 1: thousand four. Thanks to Casey Pigraham and Chandler Maize for 73 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:17,599 Speaker 1: their audio work on this show. You can subscribe to 74 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:20,760 Speaker 1: the Stay in History Class on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, 75 00:04:20,760 --> 00:04:22,640 Speaker 1: and wherever else you get your podcasts, and you can 76 00:04:22,640 --> 00:04:35,280 Speaker 1: tune in tomorrow for an insurrection that lasted for months. Hey, 77 00:04:35,520 --> 00:04:38,480 Speaker 1: I'm Eves and you're listening to This Day in History Class, 78 00:04:38,760 --> 00:04:50,680 Speaker 1: a podcast that proves history is always happening. The day 79 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:55,680 Speaker 1: was November eighteen sixty nine. The clipper Cutty Sark, one 80 00:04:55,720 --> 00:04:59,839 Speaker 1: of the last pa clippers ever built, was launched in Dumbarton, Scotland. 81 00:05:00,920 --> 00:05:04,160 Speaker 1: It's one of a few nineteenth century composite construction clipper 82 00:05:04,200 --> 00:05:08,080 Speaker 1: ships that survived today. A clipper is a fast sailing 83 00:05:08,080 --> 00:05:11,200 Speaker 1: ship with three masts and a square rig. They were 84 00:05:11,200 --> 00:05:13,440 Speaker 1: merchant ships that were built for speed, and they were 85 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:17,680 Speaker 1: popular in the mid eighteen hundreds. They had long, narrow holes, 86 00:05:17,800 --> 00:05:20,600 Speaker 1: usually made of a composite of wood and iron. They 87 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:24,520 Speaker 1: also had sharp vowels and a large sail area. Tea 88 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:28,440 Speaker 1: clippers were specifically designed to transport tea from China. Trade 89 00:05:28,520 --> 00:05:32,440 Speaker 1: was competitive and fast paced, and clippers allowed merchants to 90 00:05:32,480 --> 00:05:36,400 Speaker 1: cut down delivery time. Being successful in the tea race 91 00:05:36,520 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 1: also afforded owners a sense of prestige. Cutty Stark was 92 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:43,320 Speaker 1: built to join the tea trade between Britain and China. 93 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:46,480 Speaker 1: John Willis, who headed up a firm of ship owners 94 00:05:46,480 --> 00:05:50,119 Speaker 1: called Willis and Sons, ordered the construction of Cutty Stark. 95 00:05:50,880 --> 00:05:52,960 Speaker 1: He wanted the ship to be the fastest ship in 96 00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:56,560 Speaker 1: the tea race. Hercules Linton, a partner in The Dunbarton 97 00:05:56,720 --> 00:06:00,240 Speaker 1: firm of Scott and Linton designed the ship. The ship 98 00:06:00,279 --> 00:06:02,440 Speaker 1: was designed to be large and state of the art, 99 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:05,760 Speaker 1: but construction on Cutty Stark came to a halt when 100 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:09,240 Speaker 1: Scott and Linton ran out of money. After they went bankrupt, 101 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:12,600 Speaker 1: shipbuilders William Denny and Brothers, who were Scott and Linton's 102 00:06:12,680 --> 00:06:15,279 Speaker 1: landlords and the guaranteers for the completion of the work 103 00:06:15,360 --> 00:06:19,880 Speaker 1: on the original contract, took over the project. Captain George 104 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:24,400 Speaker 1: Moody was Cutty Stark's first master. Boody's wife Janet, christened 105 00:06:24,440 --> 00:06:28,400 Speaker 1: Cutty Stark at its launch on November twenty, eighteen sixty nine. 106 00:06:28,920 --> 00:06:33,240 Speaker 1: The ship left London for Shanghai on February eighteen seventy, 107 00:06:33,400 --> 00:06:36,720 Speaker 1: beginning it's made in voyage. The voyage took a hundred 108 00:06:36,720 --> 00:06:39,960 Speaker 1: and four days. Cutty Stark was built just before the 109 00:06:40,000 --> 00:06:42,920 Speaker 1: advent of the steamship. When the Suez Canal opened in 110 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:46,120 Speaker 1: eighteen sixty nine, steamships had shorter routes that they could 111 00:06:46,120 --> 00:06:49,599 Speaker 1: take to China. Tea clippers, on the other hand, still 112 00:06:49,640 --> 00:06:52,800 Speaker 1: had to sail around Africa, so clippers had to turn 113 00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:57,040 Speaker 1: away from the tea trade, which steamers were dominating. Cutty 114 00:06:57,040 --> 00:07:00,880 Speaker 1: Stark began traveling between ports around the world, carrying different cargoes. 115 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:04,600 Speaker 1: Eventually it was used in the wool trade, bringing Australia's 116 00:07:04,600 --> 00:07:08,520 Speaker 1: main export to Britain. For ten years, Cutty Stark held 117 00:07:08,520 --> 00:07:12,040 Speaker 1: the record for fastest journey from England to Australia. Its 118 00:07:12,040 --> 00:07:14,720 Speaker 1: fastest journey was its trip between Sydney and London in 119 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:18,720 Speaker 1: seventy three days, reaching a best recorded speed of seventeen 120 00:07:18,760 --> 00:07:23,440 Speaker 1: point five knots. By the ship was no longer making money, 121 00:07:23,840 --> 00:07:27,560 Speaker 1: a Portuguese company bought it and renamed it Ferrara. It 122 00:07:27,680 --> 00:07:30,720 Speaker 1: was renamed again in nineteen two to Maria do I 123 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:34,120 Speaker 1: thought it when another Portuguese company bought it, but when 124 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:36,320 Speaker 1: the ship was brought back to Britain that same year, 125 00:07:36,480 --> 00:07:39,880 Speaker 1: its name was changed back to Cutty Stark. In Britain, 126 00:07:39,920 --> 00:07:42,360 Speaker 1: it became a training ship for cadets in the merchant 127 00:07:42,400 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 1: service and a visitor attraction. The Cutty Stark Preservation Society 128 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:49,520 Speaker 1: was established in nineteen fifty three and the ship was 129 00:07:49,560 --> 00:07:53,280 Speaker 1: installed permanently in a specially constructed dry dock and Greenwich, 130 00:07:53,360 --> 00:07:57,760 Speaker 1: London National Historic Ships, the UK body that advises on 131 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:01,000 Speaker 1: ship preservation list Putty Stark as a part of the 132 00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:04,960 Speaker 1: National Historic Fleet. The ship is still a visitor attraction 133 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:08,800 Speaker 1: in Grinnage. I'm Eve Jacko and hopefully you know a 134 00:08:08,800 --> 00:08:12,240 Speaker 1: little more about history today than you did yesterday. If 135 00:08:12,280 --> 00:08:16,320 Speaker 1: you're hungry for more history, you can find us on Twitter, Facebook, 136 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:21,560 Speaker 1: and Instagram at t d i h C Podcast. We 137 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:25,800 Speaker 1: also accept electronic letters at this Day at I heart 138 00:08:25,880 --> 00:08:29,520 Speaker 1: media dot com. Thanks for listening. We'll see you here 139 00:08:29,600 --> 00:08:36,720 Speaker 1: again tomorrow with another episode.