Maurice Richard, known as the Rocket, was a Montreal Canadiens forward who was the first player in NHL history to score 50 goals in a season, doing it in 50 games in 1944 and 1945. He was also the first to reach 500 career goals and retired in 1960 as the league's all-time leader with 544. In 1955, after he struck a linesman, the NHL president suspended him for the rest of the season and playoffs. That decision led to the Richard Riot in Montreal, which many historians see as a precursor to Quebec's Quiet Revolution. Richard grew up poor in a large family during the Great Depression and became a francophone cultural icon.

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.