On 9 November 1994, researchers at the GSI heavy-ion research centre in Darmstadt, Germany, created the first atoms of element 110, later named darmstadtium. It does not occur in nature: scientists make it by firing a beam of nickel ions at a lead target, so the nuclei fuse. The heavy new nucleus is extremely unstable, and the isotope first produced lasted only a tiny fraction of a second before decaying. Because only a few atoms could be made, the element's chemistry has not been measured, and its properties are predicted from its position in the periodic table. It was officially named darmstadtium, symbol Ds, after the city where it was discovered.

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.