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ANI

Fifty things you might not know about Obama

2008-11-10 02:58:59
Last Updated: 2008-11-10 08:53:31

obama
obama

London: Here, according to The Telegraph, are the fifty facts about US presidential elect Barack Obama that you might know of.

  • He collects Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics.

  • He was known as "O'Bomber" at high school for his skill at basketball.

  • His name means "one who is blessed" in Swahili.

  • His favourite meal is wife Michelle's shrimp linguini.

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  • He won a Grammy in 2006 for the audio version of his memoir, Dreams From My Father.

  • He is left-handed — the sixth post-war president to be left-handed.

  • He has read every Harry Potter book.

  • He owns a set of red boxing gloves autographed by Muhammad Ali.

  • He worked in a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop as a teenager and now can't stand ice cream.

  • His favourite snacks are chocolate-peanut protein bars.

  • He ate dog meat, snake meat, and roasted grasshopper while living in Indonesia.

  • He can speak Spanish.

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  • 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.

  • He kept a pet ape called Tata while in Indonesia.

  • He can bench press an impressive 200lbs.

  • He was known as Barry until university when he asked to be addressed by his full name.

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  • His favourite book is Moby-Dick by Herman Melville.

  • He visited Wokingham, Berks, in 1996 for the stag party of his half-sister's fiancé, but left when a stripper arrived.

  • His desk in his Senate office once belonged to Robert Kennedy.

  • He and Michelle made $4.2 million (£2.7 million) last year, with much coming from sales of his books.

  • 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 took Michelle to see the Spike Lee film Do The Right Thing on their first date.

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  • He enjoys playing Scrabble and poker.

  • 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.

  • His daughters' ambitions are to go to Yale before becoming an actress (Malia, 10) and to sing and dance (Sasha, 7).

  • 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.

  • His house in Chicago has four fire places.

  • Daughter Malia's godmother is Jesse Jackson's daughter Santita.

  • He says his worst habit is constantly checking his BlackBerry.

  • He uses an Apple Mac laptop.

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  • He drives a Ford Escape Hybrid, having ditched his gas-guzzling Chrysler 300 SUV.

  • He wears $1,500 (£952) Hart Schaffner Marx suits.

  • 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 (£13).

  • His favourite fictional television programmes are Mash and The Wire.

  • He was given the code name "Renegade" by his Secret Service handlers.

  • He was nicknamed "Bear" by his late grandmother.

  • He plans to install a basketball court in the White House grounds.

  • His favourite artist is Pablo Picasso.

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  • His speciality as a cook is chilli.

  • He has said many of his friends in Indonesia were "street urchins".

  • 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.

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    All about: Obama, News, US, International, College, White House, President, America, United States, Presidential, Election, 2008, Hillary, Clinton, Barack, Huckabee, John, Edwards

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