The new president-elect of the United States is very much an unknown to many of us. It almost seems he appeared out of nowhere to claim the most powerful position in the world.
Over the next few years we will get to know him much better and find out what kind of a president he does make. Until then you may be interested to know more about the man and the things he likes and dislikes.
Here is a list of 30 things that help make Barack Obama tick:
• He collects Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics
• His name means "one who is blessed" in Swahili
• He won a Grammy in 2006 for the audio version of his memoir, Dreams From My Father
• He has read every Harry Potter book
• He worked in a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop as a teenager and now can't stand ice cream
• He ate dog meat, snake meat, and roasted grasshopper while living in Indonesia
• He can speak Spanish
• While on the campaign trail he refused to watch CNN and had sports channels on instead
• His favourite drink is black forest berry iced tea
• He promised Michelle he would quit smoking before running for president – he didn't
• His favourite book is Moby-Dick by Herman Melville
• His favourite films are Casablanca and One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
• He carries a tiny Madonna and child statue and a bracelet belonging to a soldier in Iraq for good luck
• He applied to appear in a black pin-up calendar while at Harvard but was rejected by the all-female committee.
• His favourite music includes Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, Bach and The Fugees
• He doesn't drink coffee and rarely drinks alcohol
• He would have liked to have been an architect if he were not a politician
• As a teenager he took drugs including marijuana and cocaine
• He hates the youth trend for trousers which sag beneath the backside
• He repaid his student loan only four years ago after signing his book deal
• He says his worst habit is constantly checking his BlackBerry
• He uses an Apple Mac laptop
• He owns four identical pairs of black size 11 shoes
• He has his hair cut once a week by his Chicago barber, Zariff, who charges $21
• He was given the code name "Renegade" by his Secret Service handlers
• He plans to install a basketball court in the White House grounds
• His favourite artist is Pablo Picasso
• His speciality as a cook is chilli
• He keeps on his desk a carving of a wooden hand holding an egg, a Kenyan symbol of the fragility of life
• His late father was a senior economist for the Kenyan government