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TIL about Pratima Gaonkar, a young Indian athlete whose life was wrecked by sex-verification testing in sport, and how the public humiliation from that testing led to her suicide.

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DQoGP TIL n 1953, during the Korean War, the U.S. government launched "Operation Moolah". The goal was to get North Korean pilots to defect and bring their planes with them. In exchange, the pilot would receive $50,000 cash and asylum in a non-Communist country. No pilots defected though.
Oo4b7 TIL a boucanier was a French hunter in the Caribbean who smoked meat on a wooden frame called a boucane. Boucaniers sold their meat to the corsairs operating around the Caribbean. Eventually the corsairs themselves were referred to as boucaniers, later anglicized as "buccaneers".
Xg5D TIL that the UK govt has created a tax called the “Google Tax” to stop corporates diverting funds abroad to reduce tax liability.
D1NlV TIL the McIlhenny Company is one of just a few U.S. companies to have received a royal warrant of appointment that certifies the company as a supplier to Queen Elizabeth II. The warrant held is "Supplier of Tabasco HM The Queen – Master of the Household – Granted in 2009".
JYGl8 TIL we don’t know who invented the iconic post-type fire hydrant because the patent office records were destroyed in a fire in 1836.