Smoking spread rapidly across rich countries through the 20th century, as cigarettes became cheap, heavily marketed and socially normal, especially among men. From the 1980s, rates fell steeply. The turn followed growing scientific evidence linking cigarettes to lung cancer and heart disease, which made the risks widely known. Governments then added advertising bans, health warnings, higher taxes and smoke-free public places. The sequence of research, public awareness and policy is a clear example of how public health change happens over decades.

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.