The myth

Buccaneers, in the 16th-19th centuries, used to kill their enemies by making them "walk the plank."

The "truth"

If you're a ruthless pirate and you want to get rid of someone, why not simply hurl them overboard? If you want to torture them, there must be better - that is, crueller - methods than a brief stroll along a length of wood, followed by a quick drowning.

Just about every piece of pirate fiction of the last century and a half has included a walking-the-plank scene, yet there is no suggestion whatsoever in the historical record that it ever happened. All authorities seem agreed that the custom is a 19th century fiction, reinforced by Hollywood, but there is considerable debate about who actually invented it. It's blamed variously on Peter Pan, Treasure Island, and an 1887 illustration by Howard Pyle in Harper's Monthly.