In many movies, the life of a pirate is an exciting adventure. But what was the life of an 18th-century pirate really like? And which parts of the pirate movie are real and which are made up?

In reality, the average pirate was usually trying to escape a difficult life. Some were former sailors who were mistreated on their ships. Others were runaway slaves who wanted their freedom. They came from many different backgrounds. But on a pirate ship, equality was important. The men chose their captain and together they created the rules of the ship. The men also divided the income from the stolen goods and shared these profits fairly.

In popular culture, pirates are often shown with chests full of gold. It is true that they took money from others. However, it was much more common for pirates to steal things like cloth, spices, and even medicine. So they often sold these things. Of course, buying stolen goods from pirates was illegal, but a lot of people did it. Also, unlike the pirates in the movies, the real “pirates didn’t bury their money,” says Cori Convertito, who works at a maritime museum in the US. “They spent it as fast as they could on women and booze.”

Movie pirates often wear eye patches and have wooden legs. Actually, many hackers looked like this. Why? One factor was poor living conditions. “Life at sea was harsh and dangerous,” says David Moore, an employee of a maritime museum in the US Diseases were also common. For these reasons, some pirates lost eyes and legs. But many pirates did one thing for their health: they wore earrings, just like in the movies. They believed that putting weight on the ears stopped motion sickness.