The croissant descends from the Austrian kipferl, a crescent pastry recorded in Austria at least since the 13th century. In 1838 or 1839 an Austrian artillery officer, August Zang, opened a Viennese bakery in Paris that sold kipferl and Vienna loaves, inspiring French imitators. The modern laminated croissant, with buttery layers of dough, appears in recipes from 1905 and 1906 and in Sylvain Claudius Goy's 1915 book. A popular legend ties the crescent shape to the defeat of the Ottomans at Vienna in 1683, but no contemporary source supports it.

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.