Looking at the ease with which we now capture colour pictures and transmit them around the world in seconds it's easy to forget that it was not that long ago news agencies were transmitting their wire photographs as colour separations, usually cyan, magenta and yellow - a process that relied on Clerk Maxwell's discovery.

BBC: Pioneering colour photography

Once every possible length had been tried, the only way to impress the world was through colour: rainbow-hued Mohawks, stripes and wings.

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Between them, they shook up the art world in the 17th Century with their subtle use of colour and penchant for striking religious paintings.

BBC: A second chance for Sevillian art

The ridge of the South Downs I was walking had become a frontier in the landscape, dividing the world into realms of weather, light and colour.

BBC: England��s ghostly South Downs Way

Then buttons are pressed and seven printing plants around the world receive an identical issue, together with all its sophisticated colour pages.

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"Emotionally it kicks you in the guts, " said the world record-holder who has now failed three times to win an Olympic medal of any colour.

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