Corn was domesticated about 9,000 years ago in the Balsas River Valley of central Mexico, and popcorn remains have been found in Peru from around 4,700 BCE and in New Mexico from about 3600 BCE. For centuries people popped kernels by hand over a flame. In the 1890s Chicago candy seller Charles Cretors built steam-powered poppers, which put popcorn on street carts. During the Great Depression it sold cheaply and kept many farmers afloat. In 1938 theater owner Glen Dickinson installed popcorn machines in his lobbies, finding it more profitable than tickets.

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.