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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

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jNABR TIL that in 1981, Disneyland was sued by the family of a nine-year-old girl, claiming that a performer in a Winnie the Pooh suit had hit her in the face, causing brain damage. The performer defended himself in court by wearing the costume and demonstrating that he was unable to hit anyone.
8aypG TIL in film editing, that in 1994 only 3 feature films had ever been edited digitally. By 1995 none had ever won an Oscar for best editing. In 1996 "The English Patient" was the first (edited by Walter Murch on the Avid). Since then every Oscar winner has been.except 1998's "Saving Private Ryan".
GYk95 TIL that Gandhi wrote 2 letters to Hitler, one a month before the war and one in during it, both of which were intercepted by the British and never made it to Hitler.
ZpGrp TIL that in 1962, Jackie Gleason chartered a train and went on a 10-day cross-country tour to promote his new show. It cost $90,000, had five cars, and included performers and a six-piece band.
xLy0 TIL that the company that makes the Etch a Sketch was on the verge of bankruptcy when it agreed to let its drawing toy be featured in Toy Story 2. Although the scene featuring an Etch a Sketch was only 12 seconds long, it resulted in a 20 percent sales bump that helped to save the company.