› added 4 years ago

376

TIL McDonald's makes more revenue through being land owners and franchising, than through selling food. McDonald's typically owns the land that franchises have to build their restaurants on, so they collect rent, as well as franchise fees, from their franchises.

kOdNg TIL Willem Kolff created the first dialysis machine in the Netherlands during WWII. Lacking materials, he used sausage casings, tin cans, a washing machine, and salt water. He also saved more than 800 people from the Nazis by hiding them in his hospital. And he later invented the artificial heart.
1aMOP TIL that the ISS(International Space Station) orbits 250 miles(410km) above the surface of the Earth. This would be near equivalent to the straight line distance of San Antonio, Texas to Dallas, Texas.
WkrLN TIL The Village People was formed when French songwriter/producer Jacques Morali put an ad in a local trade magazine that read, "Macho Types Wanted: Must Dance And Have A Moustache."
4XK9J TIL in 2008 the council of the British city of Birmingham printed 360,000 leaflets that featured an image of the skyline of Birmingham, Alabama. The council then said that it was meant to be a "generic skyline picture".
rNmZx TIL that in 1889, the Brazilian military, alongside slave-owning elites, organized a coup to overthrow emperor Pedro II for abolishing slavery. In response, a group of freed slaves organized themselves into a militia known as the Black Guard in order to guarantee the safety of the Imperial Family.