In July 1816 the French frigate Méduse ran aground off what is now Mauritania, and its passengers were put onto a hastily built raft. Of the 150 or so people set adrift, all but 15 died in the 13 days before rescue, from starvation, dehydration and cannibalism. The disaster became an international scandal, largely because the captain was widely blamed for incompetence. The painter Théodore Géricault, then 27, turned it into a huge canvas, researching by interviewing survivors, building a scale model of the raft and studying dying flesh in hospitals and morgues.

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.