The first Olympic-style games specifically for people with a disability were held in London in 1948 along with the London Olympic Games of that year. These were the idea of Dr Ludwig Gutman, who specialised in spine injuries and was working at Stoke Mandeville Hospital. There were many World War II veterans here with permanent injuries, and after seeing some of these veterans playing games in their wheelchairs, he got the idea of creating special sporting events for them. Before that, athletes with disabilities had occasionally competed in the mainstream Olympics, but there were no specially designed events.

This first event was only for war veterans, but in 1960 a Paralympic Games was held in Rome that was open to all people with a disability. Since the 1988 Seoul Games, it has been customary for the Paralympics to be held immediately or soon after the Olympics.

The 2012 Paralympics will be the largest so far. You can find the full history of the Paralympics here.