1937: Cast your mind back to July 27 and it was all roller-skating nuns and the Queen jumping out of a helicopter. There probably won’t be any flying royals this time around (and fingers crossed Harry keeps his clothes on) but there is a zip line positioned teasingly above the Olympic Stadium…
1939: This time it’s all about one word: Enlightenment. All right, two: The Enlightenment. You know, that intellectual revolution which occurred between 1550 and 1720?
1940: As London 2012 chief Sebastian Coe has told us to expect:
“Everything from Newton making sense of gravity and motion to Napier with logarithms and Harvey with blood circulation.
“It's really about ceilings, about human understanding, about limitations and the importance of knowledge. Within that period some quite profound things were being said about the rights of man. You can probably gather what it's trying to say.”
1946: Which means expect apples, glass ceilings, LED lights and a special narrator…none other than Mr Stephen Hawking.
2003: Over the next 11 days of competition, Paralympians will be competing for over 500 gold medals across a range of disciplines. From Boccia to "Murderball", you won’t miss a medal with our live blog. Just under 30 minutes until the Opening Ceremony begins, the excitement is certainly building.
0921: The action has already started with goalball, equestrian, shooting and table tennis under way. There are a total of 32, yes 32, gold medals up for grabs today. Who are you backing for Paralympic glory?
1508: The Velodrome erupts, British cyclist Darren Kenny has just gone to the top of the leaderboard in the 1km Time Trial final. He's a C3 athlete, so his time of 1:10.203 goes up as it is. Seven riders to go...
1514: Darren Kenny’s joy did not last long. The C3 world record has gone and it is Li Zhang Yu who has swept into the lead. The C3 athlete’s time was factored down to 1:05.021 and he leads with just five competitors left.
1556: Yeah, I know. 30 gold medals. Count 'em. 30. It's a lot to pack into the next seven hours. But I'll be here to take you through every blistering step of the way.
1606: And just like that the gold rush begins...
1631: It’s been a dramatic day for the U.S. team with big medal hope Mallory Weggemann being reclassified from S7 to S8, which could cost her and America FOUR gold medals at London 2012.
1632: Here's what she had to say about it. Ouch.
"I feel as though the system has failed me, as well as other athletes. A system that we as athletes trust to do the right thing and maintain the integrity of the sport but also protect us as athletes to create an equal playing field for all.
After hearing word that our appeal to over turn the classification result had been denied I lost faith in that system. I have trained the past four and a half years for these games and within less then 24 hours before my first race was supposed to start it all changed, everything I had prepared myself for these past four years changed right there and then."
1651: You said it Ralph. Storey's story is an incredible story (wrap your lips round that). She was born without a left hand and only took up cycling as a way to keep fit after getting an ear infection in the pool. Now she's a Paralympic champion.
1801: I gotta take a second to breathe people. But there's just no time. Up next, the Women's 400m freestyle S12. Watch this space...
1802: Halfway and GB's Hannah Russell leads. But Russia's Savchenko is hot on her heels...
1804: Home stretch and Savchenko takes the lead. Hear the roar for Britain's Russell!
