In 1787 Caroline Herschel became the first woman in Britain to receive a salary as a scientist and hold a government position, when King George III gave her an annual £50. She had begun as her brother William's assistant, sweeping the night sky for objects, and went on to discover eight comets, one of them without a telescope. She also found galaxies, including Messier 110 which orbits Andromeda. Her work earned a gold medal from the Royal Astronomical Society in 1828. In 2025 Michele Dougherty, a space physicist who led missions to Jupiter and Saturn, became the first woman appointed Astronomer Royal, a post first created in 1675. Dougherty's missions contributed to the discovery of water on Enceladus. The title had been held by men for 350 years.

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.