Himuro said:
There's quite a few things in One Piece that draw parallels to our own own and history.
For example, I think we all know that Den Den Mushi's act as phones, but one thing that not many people know is that at one point in history, scientists thought that snails communicated telepathically, so they attempted to use snails as a communication device. Of course, that didn't work at all, but it does in the world of One Piece.
Another famous example are Blackbeard and Whitebeard, whose names are taken from Blackbeard's real life name, Edward Teach.
What are other things in One Piece that are exaggerated visions of real things? I find it interesting how Oda goes one extra mile to make the world of One Piece feel alive.
Yeah, Oda does quite a bit of research, which is why it bothers me when people debate the names of certain characters/objects/etc. Especially when they are clearly inspired by some real life lore, pirate or otherwise.
Franky's real name, Cutty Flam, is inspired by the ship Cutty Sark. That's one off the top of my head. I'm pretty sure Boa Hancock, Eustass Kidd, and Jewelry Bonney all have real pirate-based names. Capone Bege, that ones obvious, and he even looks like a gangster. Not a pirate, maybe, but a related "occupation."
Edit: Ah, here we go..
Anne Bonney = Jewelry Bonney
Captain William Kidd = Eustass Kidd
Samuel Bellamy = Bellamy (Doflamingo's subordinate that Luffy easily crushed on Jaya)
Black Bart or Bartholomew Sharp = Bartholomew Kuma
Henry Morgan = Axe-hand Morgan
Edward D. Teach = Blackbeard/Whitebeard
Sir Francis Drake = X.Drake (Supernova)
Sir Richard Hawkins = Basil Hawkins (Supernova)
Edit 2: Shows me to not read farther down the thread.