CHEAT SHEET
TOP 10 RIGHT NOW
Researchers hoisted a 2,000-pound cannon from the wreck of the pirate Blackbeard's ship off the coast of North Carolina, part of the Queen Anne's Revenge Project to investigate the site. Other items salvaged include gold dust, prisoner shackles, African jewelry, and small weaponry. The ship is believed to have been built in La Concorde, France, as a slave-trading vessel, but was stolen by Blackbeard six months before he ran it aground near Beaufort Inlet. The cannon will be preserved at the East Carolina University lab, where staff will study the weapon and the veneer of barnacles covering it.