A wealthy Barbadian landowner became a pirate, and was hanged in Charles Town in 1718

historyWikipedia1717–1718 · Barbados, North American Atlantic coast

A wealthy Barbadian landowner became a pirate, and was hanged in Charles Town in 1718

the gist

Stede Bonnet was born around 1688 into a wealthy English family on Barbados. After inheriting the family estate, despite having no sailing experience, he turned to piracy in 1717, buying a ship called the Revenge. He sailed the Eastern Seaboard of North America, capturing and burning vessels, and at one point teamed up with the notorious Blackbeard. After being pardoned by North Carolina's governor, he returned to piracy under a false name. In 1718 a naval force led by Colonel William Rhett attacked his ship on the Cape Fear River and captured his crew. Bonnet escaped once, was recaptured, and was tried in Charles Town. He was sentenced to death and hanged on 10 December 1718.

so what

Bonnet's story shows how piracy on the North American coast mixed respectable colonial wealth with lawless adventure. His case also reveals how colonial courts and naval forces tried to suppress piracy in the early eighteenth century.

fun fact

Stede Bonnet was known as the Gentleman Pirate because he came from a wealthy background and was an unlikely seafarer.

Hampi was once one of the world's largest cities, until its Vijayanagara capital was destroyed in 1565

the gist

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.

how it works

The city was built around a fortified core with temples, markets and water structures along the river, supplied by an extensive network of roads and waterworks. When the empire fell, the city was not rebuilt, so its stone monuments were left standing.

so what

Hampi shows how quickly a great city can vanish after a military defeat, and how a ruined capital can remain sacred. Its ruins give historians a view of medieval South Asia that few other sites can match.

fun fact

The name Hampi comes from Pampa, an old name for the Tungabhadra River.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · text CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: Wikimedia Commons

source: Wikipedia ↗

2 min

politicsshortCNA2:01

False allegations about Singapore’s hand in Indonesia’s markets and a made-up meeting

from CNA

CNA Verify has found close to 400 posts pushing falsehoods tying Singapore to Indonesia’s stock market rout and to a secret meeting that never took place. Together, they drew nearly 12 million views, and some were circulated by accounts that appeared to be working in concert, across multiple social media platforms.

Here’s how the disinformation campaign targeting Singapore was uncovered.

on YouTube: CNA ↗