Photos: London Olympics opening ceremony
Fireworks lit the sky over the Olympic Stadium Friday during the opening ceremony for the 2012 Summer Olympics.
Owen Humphreys/associated press
| July 27, 2012
Performers took part in the opening ceremony.
David Gray/reuters
| July 27, 2012
The show was produced by Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle.
Dylan Martinez/reuters
| July 27, 2012
Great Britain's cyclist Bradley Wiggins, winner of this year’s Tour de France, greeted spectators.
David Gray/REUTERS
| July 27, 2012
Members of the audience took photographs before the opening ceremony.
Adrees Latif /REUTERS
| July 27, 2012
Media members took shelter from the rain.
Eric Gay/associated press
| July 27, 2012
Britain's Prince Charles and his wife Camila, Duchess of Cornwall, arrived for the show.
Jae C. Hong/associated press
| July 27, 2012
The Red Arrows flew over the Olympic Stadium in London.
Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
| July 27, 2012
Parts of the show portrayed Britain as a place of meadows and farms.
Dylan Martinez /REUTERS
| July 27, 2012
Some 15,000 volunteers took part in the spectacle.
Kai Pfaffenbach /REUTERS
| July 27, 2012
The program mixed filmed sequences with live action.
Jorge Silva /REUTERS
| July 27, 2012
Performers took part in the show.
David Gray /REUTERS
| July 27, 2012
The show included scenes from movies and popular children's literature.
Mike Segar /REUTERS
| July 27, 2012
Performers dressed as famed movie character Mary Poppins took flight during the show.
Mike Blake /REUTERS
| July 27, 2012
This sequence was meant to represent Britain's National Health Service.
Jae C. Hong/Associated Press
| July 27, 2012
Spectators waved Union Flags, commonly known as Union Jacks, during the ceremony.
Mike Segar /REUTERS
| July 27, 2012
A fan watched the opening ceremony.
Lucy Nicholson /REUTERS
| July 27, 2012
The London 2012 Olympic Games run through August 12.
Kai Pfaffenbach /REUTERS
| July 27, 2012
The show "was a wonderful contemporary spectacle of extraordinary tone, production, and entertainment," wrote the Globe's Chad Finn.
Jorge Silva./REUTERS
| July 27, 2012
Members of the US delegation took part in the event.
Suzanne Plunkett /REUTERS
| July 27, 2012
Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney and his wife, Ann, waved during the festivities.
Toby Melville /REUTERS
| July 27, 2012
Fireworks illuminated the sky over the Olympic Stadium.
Dmitry Lovetsky/associated press
| July 27, 2012
Up to 60,000 people watched the event in the Olympic Stadium.
Paul Sancya/associated press
| July 27, 2012
Seven young athletes carried the torch during the ceremony.
Mike Segar/REUTERS
| July 27, 2012
The stems lit by the young athletes rose to form the Olympic cauldron.
Pawel Kopczynski /REUTERS
| July 27, 2012