First created 29 July 2012. Version 1.0 - 30 July 2012. Jerry Tse. London.

London Olympics

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The 2012 Opening

This is the third time London holds the Olympics.

In 1908 the Olympics were held in the White City Stadium, which had been demolished since. This photo was taken in the 50s.

The opening Olympic ceremony in 1948.

The 2012 Olympic Park today in the East London.

Giant screens were installed all over the country to allow people to watch the games. This was the crowd in Trafalgar Square on the counting down of the opening.

The crowd at the Tower Bridge.

The Olympic Torches were carried by some 8000 ordinary citizens to all parts of the country. Many of them were disabled.

The Olympic flame was carried on its final stretch by speed boat on the Thames driven by David Beckham, who was born near the Olympic Park today.

At the beginning of the ceremony, the Olympic stadium was transformed into the rural countryside.

Children celebrated the arrival of May around a Maypole. It is a common tradition in Northern European countries.

Many farm animals and working animals took part in the ceremony as well.

On Sunday, the game of cricket was commonly played on the village meadow.

In around 1750, Britain became the first country to be transformed by the Industrial Revolution, which turned farmers into factory workers. This was the symbolic transformation of British landscape.

Two horses drove a new kind of public transport called the ‘omnibus’, as town and city grew larger.

During this part of the ceremony, the totally deaf percussionist musician Evelyn Glennie led the 1000 drummers who took part in the performance.

The engineers of the Industrial Revolution wore top hats and watched the machines.

The Industrial Revolution brought technological advances and economic benefits. It has a profound effect on the social and cultural conditions. Many workers lived in appalling conditions cut off from their traditional rural supports. The term ‘satanic mill’ was used by the writer William Blake to describe poor working conditions in the factories.

Drumming children in working clothes.

The Industrial Revolution was a painful transformation for the British people.

This ceremony honoured the courage of women in the beginning of the 20th Century, fighting for their rights to vote. They were called the ‘suffragettes’.

Then the ceremony remembered the people who were sacrificed in the World Wars.

A tribute to the old soldiers.

In 1950s, Britain began opening her doors to immigrants. This was a tribute to the arrival of the first Jamaican immigrants to the country.

In the early 1960s a new kind of music became popular, symbolised by the costume of the Beatles.

The mask of a steel mill worker.

The word pandemonium was invented by John Milton’s in his book Paradise Lost to describe hell on Earth.

Steel workers forging a ring of steel.

Pouring steel into a ring.

Drummers dressed as factory workers.

Forging of a steel ring.

Coming together of the steel rings.

The making of the Olympic rings.

The lifting off of the Olympic rings.

The symbol of the Olympic games.

James Bond arrived at Buckingham Palace.

“Good Evening, Mr Bond”. The Queen also acted her part in the Olympic opening ceremony, like all the volunteers in the stadium.

Cheering crowd as the Queen flew off in a helicopter for the Olympic ceremony.

Spectators in the stadium waiting for the arrival of the Queen.

After the parachute jumps from the helicopter, the Queen appeared in the stadium.

After the World War II, Britain created a medical service run by the government for all its citizens, providing a free medical service, called the NHS (National Health Services). It is a service cherished by all, including the support of all political parties.

The ceremony featured a tribute to National Health Service. It chose the children hospital called the Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), as the symbol of the service.

The people who took part in this section of the ceremony were actual doctors, nurses, health workers and patients, who live and work in London.

The children had nightmares and Mary Poppins dropped in to clear the villains. This was a tribute to the children literature of the country, including such characters as Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Mary Poppins and more recently Harry Potters.

Mr Bean dropped in to ruin the orchestrial performance.

Then the ceremony looked at the sixties, the internets and the digital age.

Dancers of the digital age.

There were over 200 teams in the competitions. This was the entrance of the home country.

During most Olympic games, it is customary to release doves. In the ceremony wing bicycles were used instead.

A group of seven young athletes were chosen to carry the flame to the cauldron. This symbolised the passing of the Olympic ideals to the next generation of athletes.

The Olympic cauldron was made up of a collection of smaller cauldrons each one representing an Olympic team.

Coming together of the cauldrons to form a giant cauldron, symbolising togetherness.

Finally the cauldrons came together to form a giant Olympic flame, burning brightly.

The Olympic Stadium.

The end of the opening ceremony was marked by a imposing fireworks.

All rights reserved. Rights belong to their respective owners. Available free for non-commercial and personal use.

The End

Music – Vangelis’ Chariots of Fire.