The first ballpoint patent was granted in 1888 to American inventor John J. Loud, who wanted a pen that could write on rough surfaces like wood, but his design was too coarse for letters and the patent lapsed. The modern pen came from László Bíró, a Hungarian newspaper editor frustrated by constantly refilling fountain pens and smearing wet ink on his pages. He noticed that the quick-drying ink used in newspaper printing left paper clean, so he asked his dentist brother György to develop a thick ink suited to a ball-and-socket tip. The ball controls how much ink reaches the paper, while the viscous ink stops the reservoir from drying out. Bíró filed a British patent in June 1938, and the brothers moved to Argentina during the war.

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.