[since originally being published on Reddit, the resource in question has been moved to http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-30513]
TIL that in 1916, a conman called Sir Edmund Backhouse, claiming to be working for the Chinese government, sold the UK six (non-existent) battleships and an (imaginary) flotilla-load of rifles.
This link was originally posted to /r/todayilearned. See more things from Dan's Reddit account.
The original link was: http://www.oxforddnb.com/templates/article.jsp?articleid=30513