The Somerton Man — Australia's Tamam Shud Mystery

On December 1, 1948, an unidentified man was found dead on Somerton Beach in Adelaide, Australia, with no identification and all clothing labels removed. A hidden pocket in his trousers contained a scrap of paper bearing the Persian phrase "Tamam Shud" (it is ended), torn from a rare book of Persian poetry found nearby with an encrypted message written inside. The cause of death was never determined, and his identity mystified investigators for 70 years. In 2022, researchers announced a probable identification as Carl Webb, a Melbourne-born electrical engineer, but this has not been officially confirmed by the coroner.