The story of HMS Friday says the Royal Navy built a ship of that name to prove that sailing on a Friday brought no bad luck, and that it vanished on its maiden voyage. There was never any Royal Navy ship called HMS Friday. The tale seems to have spread after comedian Dave Allen told it on BBC television in 1971, and it was later retold in a 1983 book and in Reader's Digest filler, which made it look like historical research.

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.