Superman began as a villain with psychic powers before becoming an alien hero for $130

pop & funWikipedia1933 · Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Superman began as a villain with psychic powers before becoming an alien hero for $130

the gist

Superman was created by teenage friends Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster in Cleveland, who first wrote a 1933 story about a homeless man who gained psychic powers. When newspaper editors rejected their comic strips, they reworked the idea into a crime-fighting hero with superhuman strength and an alien origin on Krypton. Shuster designed the familiar costume, with an S on the chest, over-shorts and a cape. They created Clark Kent and Lois Lane, and after many rejections they sold the copyright for $130 to Detective Comics. Superman appeared in Action Comics No. 1 in April 1938, and the issue sold strongly.

so what

Superman set the template for the modern superhero, and the deal the creators made with their publisher became a long legal dispute over ownership of the character. It shows how early comics were built on pulp science fiction ideas.

fun fact

The first Superman story was published in 1933 by Siegel in his own self-published amateur magazine before any publisher picked the character up.

Hampi was once one of the world's largest cities, until its Vijayanagara capital was destroyed in 1565

the gist

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.

how it works

The city was built around a fortified core with temples, markets and water structures along the river, supplied by an extensive network of roads and waterworks. When the empire fell, the city was not rebuilt, so its stone monuments were left standing.

so what

Hampi shows how quickly a great city can vanish after a military defeat, and how a ruined capital can remain sacred. Its ruins give historians a view of medieval South Asia that few other sites can match.

fun fact

The name Hampi comes from Pampa, an old name for the Tungabhadra River.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · text CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: Wikimedia Commons

source: Wikipedia ↗

2 min

politicsshortCNA2:01

False allegations about Singapore’s hand in Indonesia’s markets and a made-up meeting

from CNA

CNA Verify has found close to 400 posts pushing falsehoods tying Singapore to Indonesia’s stock market rout and to a secret meeting that never took place. Together, they drew nearly 12 million views, and some were circulated by accounts that appeared to be working in concert, across multiple social media platforms.

Here’s how the disinformation campaign targeting Singapore was uncovered.

on YouTube: CNA ↗