Live updates
Team GB wishes ParalympicsGB good luck
A #SuperHuman way to welcome the world to the Paralympics! Good Night & Good Luck to @paralympicsgb #OurGreatestTeam http://t.co/2mFZ2jA6
London 2012 Paralympic Cauldron lit
Britain's first gold medalist in the 1st Paralympic Games at Rome in 1960 lit the Olympic Cauldron. She was passed the flame by Royal Marine Commando Joe Townsend, who lost both of his legs in an explosion whilst serving in Afghanistan, who descended into the stadium on a zip wire.
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Paralympic Opening Ceremony displays Marc Quinn statue
Paralympic Cauldron lit in spectacular style

Royal Marine Commando Joe Townsend – an aspiring Paralympic triathlete - descends on a zip wire with the #ParaTorch #OpeningCeremony

The final Torchbearer is Margaret Maughan, Britain’s 1st gold medallist at the 1st Paralympic Games at Rome 1960 #OpeningCeremony #ParaTorch

The #Paralympic Cauldron is lit! #OpeningCeremony
Celebrities watch Paralympic Opening Ceremony

It's all gone very Cirque Du Soleil at the Paralympics - I'm not entirely sure what's going on but I'm rather enjoying it. #ithinkimaybegay

Let's go @paralympic GB How cool. Loving the wheelchairs wheels. #PARALYMPICS #goosebumps

Watching the Paralympic opening ceremony! Can't wait for the games
War veteran Joe Townsend flies into stadium on a zip wire
Double amputee Afghan war veteran Joe Townsend flew in on a zip wire with the Paralympic Flame from the nearby Orbit. He then passed the flame to Margaret Maughan, Britain's 1st gold medalist in the 1st Paralympic Games in Rome in 1960, who lit the cauldron.
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Paralympics opens with spectacle and emotion
Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the the London Paralympic Games 2012 during the opening ceremony at the Olympic Stadium, London.
Ian Dury's 'Spasticus Autisticus' performed by Orbital

Ian Dury's 'Spasticus Autisticus' is performed by Orbital and the Graeae Theatre Company #OpeningCeremony
Paralympic Opening Ceremony in pictures
Paralympic Games about 'transforming our perception of the world'
Professor Stephen Hawking said the Paralympic Games is about transforming our perception of the world. Speaking at the spectacular Opening Ceremony he said:
The Paralympic Games is about transforming our perception of the world.
We are all different. There is no such thing as a standard or run-of-the-mill human being but we share the same human spirit. What is important is that we have the ability to create. This creativity can take many forms, from physical achievement to theoretical physics. However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at.