London Olympic 2012: Let the games begin!

A two-minute display of fireworks marked the opening of the London Olympics as Britain's Queen Elizabeth declared the games open. The pyrotechnics show was part of the finale of the opening ceremony, a dizzying event designed to highlight the grandeur and eccentricities of the nation that invented modern sport. Children's voices ushered in an exuberant historical pageant of meadows, smokestacks and digital wizardry before an audience of 60,000 in the Olympic Stadium and a probable billion television viewers around the globe.