During China's Qing Dynasty, a fearsome female pirate queen named Ching Shih ruled the South China Sea. She led the Red Flag Fleet, commanding over 1,800 pirate ships and around 80,000 pirates.

Ching Shih was born around ... there were special rules for female captives. If the captive was ugly, she was immediately released. If she was pretty, a pirate could marry her, but then had ...

A Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship was almost overrun by pirates last month. Luckily, the crew escaped unhurt and the pirates’ boat was destroyed. However, things were very different in the 19th ...