Mental Floss

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Back in the day, you might have encountered someone with a bridge to sell you.

From fake relics to fake princesses to medical fraud involving goat testicles, history is rife with con jobs that managed to fool unsuspecting marks.

Jake Rossen
















Clockwise from left: Gilbert Stuart's unfinished portrait of George Washington on the $1 bill; Basilica de la Sagrada Familia; a page from Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales;  Boldt Castle; Reactors 5 and 6 at Chernobyl; and the National Monument of Scotland.

Famous presidential portraits, literary masterpieces, and iconic tourist destinations all make the list of amazing unfinished projects.

Justin Dodd


Jack Kerouac's classic novel wasn't as spontaneous as you've been led to believe.

'On the Road,' Jack Kerouac’s stream-of-consciousness travelogue, charts the adventures of Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarty as they road trip across the United States. Here’s what you should know.

mentalfloss .com
Terry Pratchett in 1996.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Terry Pratchett’s first novel, here are some things you might not know about the architect of Discworld.

April Snellings