 In this video, you'll learn about the most notorious pirate stories of all time. One of the most notorious pirate stories actually happened on land by a crew led by pirate captain Basil Hood in 1713. Captain Hood had a brilliant plan to make some quick cash with little risk. Raiding ships was dangerous business after all. If the crew resisted, there was a chance a pirate could get stabbed or shot. Captain Hood had the idea to steal a herd of cows. They landed on shore and stole an entire herd of cattle, then brought them on their ship and sailed away. At first the plan worked perfectly. Unfortunately for Captain Hood, his plan went terribly wrong once in the open sea. The cows grew seasick and began to vomit and poop violently. The stench was so bad that from miles away, a British warship was able to track down Captain Hood and his crew. It seemed that Captain Hood was destined to make a one-way drop at the end of a noose. Faced with a British frigate close on their tail, Hood and his men immediately surrendered. It would have been the end for Hood. Had it not been for the British captain of the warship who could not stand the terrible sight and stench of the filthy and sick cows. Unable to stomach the terrible smell, the British captain decided not to confiscate Hood's ship and cargo and let them go. The second most notorious pirate story in history would be Blackbeard's blockade of Charleston Harbour. For three days, Blackbeard and his crew held the port city hostage, controlling everything coming in and out of the town. He had three ships at the time, the Revenge, the Queen Anne's Revenge and the Ranger. It was believed that at this time Blackbeard was suffering from advanced stages of syphilis and the main reason behind the blockade was to get a large supply of venereal disease medicine to cure his crew of various sexually transmitted diseases. Blackbeard sent a few men in a long boat to see the governor with their demands for the medicine and they positioned their ships to control the harbour for three days until it was received. Once he had their medical supplies, he left, leaving the town of Charleston a little poorer and very confused. Did pirates believe in sea monsters? While sea monsters might seem like mythical creatures, some sea monsters are based on real creatures. One of the most common sea monsters that pirates believed in was the Kraken, whose origins date back to Viking times as far back as the 1100s. Legends describe Kraken as a colossal squid-like creature capable of pulling down an entire ship with its powerful tentacles. The legend of the Kraken may have originated from sightings of giant squid which may grow to 12 to 15 meters or 40 to 50 feet in length. The fourth most notorious pirate story was an infamous pirate raid that occurred in 1717. The raid was organised by two of the most infamous pirates, Captain Benjamin Hornigold and his second-in-command Edward Thatch, better known as Blackbeard. Captain Hornigold and his crew attacked a merchant ship off the coast of Honduras. As the terrified merchants begged for their lives, Captain Hornigold explained that they had gotten violently drunk the night before and had thrown their hats into the sea. They had attacked the merchant ship only to steal the hats of the crew. After they took the merchant's hats, Captain Hornigold and his crew allowed them to continue with their voyage. The fifth most notorious pirate story was when the Gambia Castle was sacked. Captain Howell Davis was one of the smartest pirates in history. He preferred to trick his target over violence. In 1718, Captain Davis decided to sack Gambia Castle, an English fort on the coast of Africa rather than attack with cannons. He devised a deception. He posed as a wealthy merchant looking to purchase local natives as slaves. He gained the trust of the castle commander, invited to the castle. He positioned his men between the castle guards and their weapons. Suddenly, he pulled a pistol on the commander and his men took the castle without firing a shot. The cheerful pirates locked up the soldiers, drank all the alcohol in the castle, fired the fort's cannons for fun and made off with £2,000 of silver.