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Bliss – The story behind one of the most famous photographs (2012)

Charles O’Rear’s photograph was selected by Microsoft as its Windows XP wallpaper. One of the world’s most famous images, writes David Clark

The photograph was not only included in every copy of Windows XP sold around the world (a program installed on more than a billion computers), but it was also a key part of the $200 million campaign to advertise the software. 4 February: More than 5,000 people are killed in north-east Afghanistan by an earthquake measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale 23 February: Osama bin Laden signs a fatwa in the name of the ‘World Islamic Front for Jihad against Jews and Crusaders.’ It declares the killing of North Americans and their allies an ‘individual duty for every Muslim’ 23 March: Director James Cameron’s film Titanic wins a record 11 Academy Awards at the 70th Academy Awards ceremony 10 April: The Belfast Agreement, also known as the Good Friday Agreement, is signed by the Irish and British governments. Between June and September, thousands are killed and millions made homeless as a result of flooding 15 August: The Real IRA detonates a car bomb in a busy street in Omagh, Northern Ireland.

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