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TIL that in 2008, the city of Chicago sold the rights to collect revenue from its parking meters to a foreign-owned company, receiving a sum of $1.2 billion against a 75 year lease. Investors have collected $2.1 billion so far, for a yearly RoR of only 4.3%. Chicago has made a handsome profit.

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R5ZR9 TIL that the total length of our blood vessels is not 100,000km contrary to popular belief but only approximately 10,000km. The larger number has been incorrectly regarded as true since 1928 and was debunked in a recent study.
wYPW TIL the guys from Workaholics Have a rap album called “Purple Magic”
YpR8v TIL there is a scifi short story called 'The Man Who Came Early' where a modern engineering student is sent back in time but his lack of practical know-how and his over-sophisticated ideas lead to none of his suggestions being implemented.
LkgY9 TIL that x-ray analysis is commonly applied to ancient paintings in order to reveal corrections, underdrawings and even figures the artist wanted to hide, such as a hidden man in Picassos "Blue Room".
BodL TIL when Yvonne Brill, the inventor of the electrothermal hydrazine thruster for rocket propulsion, died, the first line of her New York Times obituary read, “She made a mean beef stroganoff”