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TIL that biologist Tyrone Hayes published an experiment that showed pesticide Atrazine was turning frogs from male to female. In response, manufacturer Syngenta spent years spying on him and conducting an extensive campaign to create a scandal that would end his career.

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dYpQ TIL that in 2009, Charlie Hebdo fired a cartoonist for an anti-Semitic cartoon.
R58V8 TIL The Guinness Book of World Records, was an idea conceived by British engineer Sir Hugh Beaver (the Managing Director of the Guinness Brewery) to solve trivia questions among bar patrons.
PYOLE TIL Navajo was once in danger of losing a lot of speakers, but the Navajo nation set up programs to teach the language as well as many bilingual schools. Now there are even institutes, community colleges, and technical universities with classes in the Navajo language
R57v1 TIL Carl’s Drive-In Barbecue became Carl’s Jr. when the owner opened a smaller version of the restaurant geared to faster service, which eventually outsold and replaced the original.
xvL5 TIL Robin Williams only made $75,000 for voicing the Genie in Aladin, which went on to gross over $200 million domestically. “Disney later sent him a late Picasso painting as a way of thanking him for his work.”