In 1964, a year after John F. Kennedy's assassination, mainstream American newspapers printed a list of coincidences linking him to Abraham Lincoln, such as both presidents having a secretary named similar to their successor's name. The list had earlier circulated in a Republican congressional newsletter. Martin Gardner examined it in the 1970s and found that several claims were based on misinformation, and Snopes later found the rest easily explained by chance. A Skeptical Inquirer contest then produced similar lists for other president pairs, such as 13 similarities between Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson.

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.