Friday Timewaster

Yaaaargh! Stupid pirates.

The most ruthless and feared pirate in history was a woman named Ching Shih. Originally purchased as a slave prostitute by a pirate leader named Zheng Yi in the early 1800s, she eventually married him and then took over his fleet upon his death. By the second decade of the 19th century, she commanded over 1,000 ships and was the de facto ruler of many parts of coastal China. She was reported to be very beautiful and utterly amoral, killing without compunction anyone who defied her, including children.

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