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TIL the sumo wrestling ring (dohyou) is constructed by the ring ushers (yobidashi) before every tournament. They destroy the previous ring and the new one takes 3 days to build. One reason for reconstruction is that the rice straw bales might rot and cause the ring to crack.

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wLvGW TIL In 1976, President Gerald R. Ford and Jimmy Carter debated, marking the first time in US history that a president had agreed to debate and only the second time that any televised debates had been held. The sound system failed, leaving Ford and Carter standing in silence for nearly half an hour
x6o9w TIL that 80 percent of the men born in the Soviet Union in 1923 did not survive World War II
9wOZM TIL that itally has its own distinctive variety of rice
1NoD TIL in 2004, the 276 member studio audience of the Oprah Show were each given a Pontiac G-6 sedan. Oprah told producers to fill the crowd with people who “desperately needed” cars. On average each person was slapped with a $6000 tax bill.
0dMvN TIL Super Mario is named after real-life businessman Mario Segale, who was renting out a warehouse to Nintendo. After Nintendo fell far behind on rent, Segale did not evict them but gave them a second chance to come up with the money. Nintendo succeeded and named their main character after him.