Milton Hershey failed in several businesses before founding the Lancaster Caramel Company in 1883. In 1896 he built a milk-processing plant to refine a milk chocolate recipe, and in 1900 he began making the Hershey's Milk Chocolate bar. After seeing chocolate-making machinery at the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition, he sold his successful caramel business for $1,000,000 in 1900 and put everything into chocolate. When people questioned him he said caramels were a fad but chocolate was permanent. In 1903 he began a chocolate factory in his hometown of Derry Church, Pennsylvania, which became the town of Hershey. In 1907 he introduced the Hershey's Kiss, a bite-sized conical piece that was hand-wrapped in foil until machine wrapping arrived in 1921.

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.