Félix Nadar was a French photographer, caricaturist, journalist and balloonist. He took his first photographs in 1853 and pioneered the use of artificial lighting, including work in the Paris catacombs. Around 1863 he built Le Géant, a huge balloon of about 6,000 cubic metres that inspired Jules Verne's Five Weeks in a Balloon. In April 1874 he lent his studio to a group of painters, making the first Impressionist exhibition possible. He also was the model for the character Michael Ardan in Verne's From the Earth to the Moon.

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.