Irish pirate and folk hero Anne Bonny was BOTD in 1697. Born near Cork in British-ruled Ireland, little is known of her life, and much of her story stems from Charles Johnson’s 1724 book A General History of the Pyrates. She is thought to have moved to London with her father, who dressed her as a boy, and later moved to the British-ruled province of Carolina in North America. She married James Bonny, moving with him to Nassau in the Bahamas, at the time a sanctuary for English pirates. She had an affair with John “Calico Jack” Packham, eloping with him on board his pirate ship, disguising herself as a man. Her shipmate included fellow male impersonator Mary Read, with whom she is thought to have had a romantic relationship. After years spent pirating in the Caribbean, their ship was captured by the British and sentenced to death. Rackham was executed, while Bonny and Read pleaded for mercy on the grounds that they were both pregnant. Read was granted a stay of execution but died in prison, possibly in childbirth. Bonny’s fate is less clear and has been debated extensively by historians. Burial ledgers record the death of an Ann Bonny in 1733, but Johnson’s biography states that she was not executed and may have returned to the United States. Bonny became an American folk hero, and has become a queer icon in recent years. In 2020, a statue of Bonny and Read was erected at Execution Dock in East London, a former execution site for pirates and smugglers.