If you think you make useless purchases, at least you haven’t been conned by George C. Parker, the man who repeatedly sold the Brooklyn Bridge. You may have heard the saying “and if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you” probably from your dad, but who was it that actually tried to con people into thinking they were buying the Brooklyn bridge?

Weirdly, several people. William McCloundy, Reed Waddell, the Gondorf brothers (who The Sting is based on)... But most famously in the late 1800s, was a native New Yorker named George C. Parker, though he went by many other names throughout his career as a con man.