Solomon Linda, a migrant worker in South Africa, led an a cappella group called the Evening Birds, and in 1939 they recorded Mbube, a song built on a retelling of a lion hunt. The record was a hit across South Africa, but Linda had sold his rights to the owner of his record company for ten shillings without understanding the deal. The recording travelled to the United States, where Pete Seeger's group the Weavers covered it in 1951 as Wimoweh. In 1961 the doo-wop group the Tokens changed the melody, added English lyrics and released The Lion Sleeps Tonight, which topped the US charts. Disney's The Lion King later used it, earning its songwriters an estimated $15 million, yet Linda's family, who were poor, received very little until a lawsuit settled in 2006.

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.