In 1894 John Harvey Kellogg, a physician running a health sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan, was called away one night and left a batch of wheat-berry dough behind. The next morning, instead of throwing it out, he ran it through rollers and was surprised to get thin, delicate flakes that could be baked into a crisp cereal. His younger brother Will was tasked with recreating the process reliably, and the method, called tempering, became the basis of the flaked cereal industry. The brothers later experimented with other grains, and the patent covered many types, not just wheat. Will then founded his own company, added sugar to make the flakes appeal to a mass market, and the business grew into a global breakfast giant. Accounts of who did what remain disputed, since family members have given conflicting versions.

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.