News nostalgia
In February 1961, Harold Roth, director of the East Orange Library in New Jersey, made news by having arrest warrants made out for 14 people with overdue books. The degree of overdueness ranged from four months to one year. But what really attracted attention was the manner of
the arrests. The police showed up at many of the houses around midnight to rouse the scofflaws out of bed and drag them down to jail. (Source: News of the Weird)
Lesser known pirate facts
1. Same sex marriage is nothing new to pirates. Pirates spent long periods of time on ships surrounded by other men so it's no surprise that some shared intimate relationships. In pirate society, two men could join into what they called a "matelotage" and share all their plunder, even receiving death benefits if one died before the other. Pirate mates would live together and even exchange gold rings.
2. The cannons on a pirate ship made a loud blast and were known to deafen ... but the pirates would hang lumps of wax from their earrings to stuff into their ears when firing cannons.
3. The most terrifying pirate in the world was Blackbeard, born Edward Teach, and he built his reputation on hemp. Before capturing any ship he'd weave hemp into his long dark beard and under his captain hat. He then lit the hemp on fire, smoke billowed out from his face and made his opponents fear for their lives. (Source: ranker.com)
Bad landlord
