Master of Puppets, released by Metallica in March 1986, is one of the most influential heavy metal albums ever made. It was recorded in Copenhagen with producer Flemming Rasmussen and features a faster, more complex thrash sound with political lyrics. Bassist Cliff Burton, the last member to play on the album, died in a tour bus accident in Sweden that September. The album peaked at number 29 on the Billboard 200 but went on to shape the American thrash scene. In 2015 it became the first metal recording selected by the Library of Congress for preservation as culturally significant.

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.