The London 2012 Paralympic Games kicked off with an opening ceremony that starred physicist Stephen Hawking and veteran actor Ian McKellen.
Check out our Paralympic Opening Ceremony gallery here.
Hawking, diagnosed with motor neurone disease at the age of 21 and told in 1963 he had two years to live, began the ceremony by reading from the stage.
"Look up at the stars and not down at your feet. Be curious," Hawking said from his wheelchair, speaking through his famous computerised voice system for communication.
Hawking delivered a touching speech at the opening ceremony
The show was watched in the stadium by some 80,000 spectators and members of the Royal Family, including the Queen.
Cathal Miller leads the Irish team
Cyclist Cathal Miller was the Irish flag bearer and led the 49 strong Ireland team into the stadium
The London Paralympics will host the highest number of athletes since their official birth in 1960 at the Rome Games, with 4,280 athletes representing over 160 nations compared to 400 participants from 23 countries in the Italian capital.
Veteran actor Ian McKellen took part in the spectacular event
Pistorius, who became the first double amputee to compete in the Olympics earlier this month, told a news conference ahead of the Paralympics he had seen a "shift" in interest towards disabled sport.
"Up to 2004 I didn't know much about Paralympics. The biggest turnout we had was maybe 20,000. Usually around 7,000 a day," said Pistorius, who runs using carbon-fibre prosthetic blades after he was born without a fibula in both legs.
"The UK deal with disability in a really amazing way. There are a lot of people who don't focus on the disability anymore, they focus on the athletes' abilities. They're treated as elite sportsmen and women," the 25-year-old Pistorious added.
The Paralympics were conceived at the 1948 London Olympics by German neurologist Ludwig Guttmann, who had opened a spinal injuries centre at Stoke Mandeville in England for injured World War Two soldiers.
