In the Middle Ages, the main meal of the day, called dinner, was eaten late in the morning after hours of work. Over the 17th and 18th centuries in England, dinner was gradually pushed later into the evening, leaving a long gap between breakfast and dinner. A midday meal called lunch filled that gap. At first luncheon was a light meal usually eaten by women, which is why the phrase the ladies who lunch exists. With industrialisation in the 19th century, factory workers could no longer go home at midday, so they began carrying food. Employers eventually gave workers a fixed hour to eat, and lunch became part of the daily routine.

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.