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TIL before 1975, the BBC overwrote or destroyed old show tapes. Hundreds of Doctor Who episodes were thought lost forever, until a worldwide hunt began to turn them up—e.g. 2 in a London Mormon Church, and a goldmine 9 in Nigeria (employees had ignored instructions to burn them). 97 remain unfound.

5YbLr TIL: In some Hispanic cultures their version of the tooth fairy is a rat called "Ratón Pérez" or El Ratón de Los Dientes
OoO51 TIL: Research suggests that people who take long naps during the day or sleep 9 or more hours at night may have an increased risk of stroke. Long nappers and long sleepers were 85% more likely to have a stroke. Those with poor sleep quality were 29% more likely to have a stroke.
69NDQ TIL that the earliest known writing dates back to around 3000 B.C.E. and was likely invented by the Sumerians in southern Iraq. It was used by temple officials to record the allocation of rations and movement of goods. The earliest texts were pictures (pictographs) of the items being recorded.
gMly9 TIL the plasma globe was invented accidentally by an MIT undergrad, who was working in a lab to create electrical rocket engines. Right after inventing it, he naturally brought it to his girlfriend's house party.
NXQyb TIL John Lennon openly plagiarized Chuck Berry's song "Can't Catch Me" to write "Come Together." When Paul McCartney called him out on the intellectual theft, Lennon responded, "Yeah, I know! It's good though, isn't it?" "Come Together" became a No. 1 hit and is considered a Beatles classic.