The Execution of Mary, Queen of Scots is an 18-second film made by Thomas Edison's company in 1895 and directed by Alfred Clark. It shows a blindfolded Mary being led to the block, and when the axe is raised, an edit swaps the actor for a mannequin whose head is then cut off. The trick works because cutting between two shots lets the film show a death that the audience never sees happen on screen. It is widely regarded as one of the earliest uses of stop-and-substitute editing for special effects, and the first death scene in cinema history.

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.