A widely told origin story says Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings was hit with a $40 late fee by Blockbuster and decided to start a rental company in response. Hastings has said he invented the story to explain Netflix's value to people, the idea that renting should not come with penalties. The company's founders were actually inspired by Amazon's model of online retail and mail delivery. Netflix began in 1997 as a DVD-by-mail rental service, and it later moved into streaming, which eventually made the original business obsolete.

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.