In the 1940s and early 1950s, thousands of premature babies in the United States and elsewhere went blind from a disease called retrolental fibroplasia, now known as retinopathy of prematurity. Doctors had begun to place premature infants in incubators with high levels of oxygen because it helped them survive, not realising it damaged the immature blood vessels of the eye. In 1950 the baby later known as Stevie Wonder was born two months early in Saginaw, Michigan, spent 52 days in an incubator and lost his sight. By the mid-1950s controlled studies had shown the link, and oxygen levels were restricted. That cut the blindness but, for a time, more babies died from too little oxygen.

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.