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William Thompson certainly was not the first person involved in the con game. We can assume people have been tricking and cheating each other likely since there were people to trick and cheat. We really don’t know a whole lot about William’s life. He just sort of pops up in the historical record when he starts getting noticed around the streets of New York City -- which, as you might imagine, is not good for the con business. He may have been small time, but he was the guy responsible for helping coin the term, confidence man -- or con man.

<p>William Thompson certainly was not the first person involved in the con game. We can assume people have been tricking and cheating each other likely since there were people to trick and cheat. We really don’t know a whole lot about William’s life. He just sort of pops up in the historical record when he starts getting noticed around the streets of New York City -- which, as you might imagine, is not good for the con business. He may have been small time, but he was the guy responsible for helping coin the term, confidence man -- or con man.</p>
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Humans have always committed crimes. What can we learn from the criminals and crimes of the past, and have humans gotten better or worse over time?

Criminalia

'May I Borrow Your Watch?': William Thompson, America's Original Confidence Man

https://api.omny.fm/orgs/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/clips/345defbd-5894-4598-8690-af9b0086f801/transcript