On 11 May 1812, John Bellingham, a Liverpool businessman, shot Prime Minister Spencer Perceval in the lobby of the House of Commons. Bellingham had been jailed in Russia for a debt he said he did not owe, and he spent years pleading with British authorities for compensation. Feeling ignored by ministers, he decided a shooting would force a court hearing. Perceval, who was not yet fifty and left a widow and twelve children, died shortly after being carried into the Speaker's apartments. Bellingham made no attempt to escape and was tried at the Old Bailey within days. His defence argued insanity, but the court rejected it, and he was convicted and executed.

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.