12 November

Judge Nicholas Trott sentences Bonnet to death.

Stede Bonnet Executed

A rich Barbados planter bought a ship, hired a crew and went pirating in 1717. Eighteen months later Charles Town hanged him, despite his pleas.

Detectives arrest Boles in San Francisco after tracing the laundry mark.

Black Bart Convicted

A polite robber in a flour-sack mask held up Wells Fargo stagecoaches for eight years. A laundry mark on a dropped handkerchief led detectives to his door.

He is found guilty and sentenced to one year in prison.

Han van Meegeren Convicted

Arrested in 1945 for selling a Vermeer to Göring, a Dutch painter saved himself by proving he had painted it. Then he had to prove he had faked the rest.