We’re on day 2 of our theme week on the Real Names Behind Famous Food Brands! Today we’re talking about Captain Morgan rum, which was named after Sir Henry Morgan, who was a Welsh privateer in the 1600s. From his base in Port Royal, Jamaica, he and those under his command raided settlements and ports all along the Spanish Main. A pirate and a privateer were different things. A pirate operated with no legal authority and his activities were all for personal gain. A privateer, on the other hand, was authorized and sanctioned by a government to attack enemy ships. At the time, England was at war with Spain. So Morgan was given the authority to attack and seize Spanish vessels. He conducted successful and highly lucrative raids in Cuba, Panama, and Venezuela, but his pillaging career ended when Spain and England signed a peace treaty in 1671. A few years later, Morgan was knighted and sent back to the Caribbean as the Lieutenant-Governor of Jamaica. Morgan died in 1688 and was buried in Port Royal, Jamaica. Four years later, a powerful earthquake struck, causing the cemetery to fall into the sea. Morgan’s body has never been located. The Seagram Company started manufacturing Captain Morgan spiced rum in 1944. It was introduced in the U.S. in 1984. Learn more here.