This ranking is based on an algorithm that combines various factors, including the votes of our users and search trends on the internet.
Blackbeard was a notorious English pirate who struck fear into the hearts of his opponents during the early 18th century. His life has inspired several video games, TV miniseries, and films. Tim Powers' novel On Stranger Tides houses a fictionalized version of Blackbeard; the novel was later adapted into a film titled Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides.
A legendary female pirate of the early eighteenth century, Mary Read took to piracy when her ship was seized by Jack Rackham in West Indies. By then, she had started dressing as a man and had served in the military, which might have helped her to become a successful buccaneer. Captured in 1720, she died in prison five months later.
Darya Nikolayevna Saltykova was a noblewoman, serial killer, and sadist. She achieved notoriety for torturing and killing at least 38 female serfs. Since she was well-connected with the Russian nobility and with those in power at the royal court, Darya got away with many of her murders until she was found guilty in a trial organized by Empress Catherine II.
