Images

Christopher Columbus (c. 1451–1506) led four transatlantic expeditions between 1492 and 1504 under the patronage of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. His goal was to find a westward maritime route to Asia’s trade centers...

A 1921 painting of a boy dressed as a pirate by William Meade Prince (1893-1951). (Ackland Art Museum, University of North Carolina, USA)

Temple at Uppsala as Depicted in History Channel's TV show Vikings. ©2013 History Channel

Bell Tower at Gamla Uppsala, Sweden, site of the Norse Temple at Uppsala, which was destroyed by King Inge of Sweden, c. 1080.

Burial mounds at Gamla Uppsala, Sweden. Legend has it that three Norse gods - Odin, Thor, and Freyr - were buried under each and the site where the Temple of Uppsala once stood was sacred to them. Excavations of the mounds and site in the...

The Norse Temple at Uppsala dedicated to Thor, Odin, and Freyr, as described by Adam of Bremen and depicted in Book 3 of the Historia de gentibus septentrionalibus by Olaus Magnus, 1555.

A two-masted pirate sloop raising the red flag to signal no quarter will be given. From the TV series Black Sails. ©2016 Starz Entertainment

An 18th-century engraving showing the pirate Edward England and his ship Fancy attacking the East India Company ship Cassandra in 1720.

Filadelfia Coffee Plantation, Guatemala.

Oil palm harvester in Indonesia Photo by Lucy McHugh/CIFOR.