During World War II, Margaret Louden worked at the South London Hospital for Women and Children, where she witnessed patients dug out of bombed buildings during the Blitz. Many appeared unharmed at first but collapsed days later from kidney failure caused by toxins released by crushed muscle. In 1944 she gave a pint and a half of fluid to a crush victim before rescue, and the early fluid intake let the damaging myoglobin pass out in urine rather than overwhelm the kidneys. The woman recovered, and sodium bicarbonate solution was later used for renal failure more widely. Louden's research was barely published, and her story was largely lost until writer David Jesudason found her obituary in a bin during lockdown.

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.