Morning/Afternoon

  *4am GMT - Obama leads his Republican rival John McCain by 297 electoral votes to 139 as he passed the threshold number of 270 needed to win the presidency..

  *Celebrations erupt in Kenya, where Obama's father had once been a goat herder.

  *Thousands of people erupt into loud cheers in and around Grant Park in downtown Chicago, the scene of Mr Obama's victory rally. They react each time Obama was announced winner in a state, with the cheers becoming particularly loud when Pennsylvania and Ohio fell to Democrats. The jubilant crowd were confident Mr Obama would win the presidency.

  *Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond sends congratulatory message to Obama. In his message, Salmond included an invitation to visit Scotland during the 2009 Year of Homecoming. Obama has Scottish ancestry and had sent a statement of support to this year's Scotland Week celebrations in the United States.

  *Americans celebrate Obama's victory across the country.

  *Kenya declares Thursday, November 6, a public holiday to celebrate the election of Barack Obama to the US presidency.

Evening/Night

  *U.S. presidential election results announced as follows:-

                           Obama - Democrat        McCain - Republican

Popular Votes            64,376,670 ( 52.5% )        56,706,233 ( 46.2% )

Electoral College votes           364                            162

     Other Results

Congressional Results: Senate

Democrats ....... 55 Seats,       Republicans ....... 40 Seats

House of Representatives

Democrats ....... 254 Seats,       Republicans ....... 174 Seats

  *Obama sets up team for transition - Obama puts together a team to take him to the White House. The transition team includes, as chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, a former aide to President Bill Clinton.

Yesterday

Tuesday, November 4---------

Morning/Afternoon

  *Most polling stations opens at 7.00 am local time and American voters are flock to polling stations to cast their ballots in the hard-fought race for the White House between Democratic Presidential Candidate, Barack Obama and his Republican counterpart, John McCain.

  *Voting problems surfaces in several areas of New York as people turned out in droves to vote but were greeted with long lines and malfunctioning machines.

  *Obama casts his ballot in his home city of Chicago with his wife Michelle and his young daughters Sasha and Malia by his side.

  *In keeping with tradition, voting begins at the stroke of midnight in a handful of remote towns in the north-eastern state of New Hampshire.

  *Obama wins earliest vote - Obama the winner in the presidential race in Dixville Notch and Hart's Location, New Hampshire, where they have the tradition of having the first Election Day ballots tallied immediately. Obama defeats Republican John McCain by a count of 15 to 6 in Dixville Notch. It is the first time Dixville Notch chose the Democratic candidate since 1968. The town of Hart's Location reported 17 votes for Obama, 10 for McCain and 2 for write-in Ron Paul, a libertarian leaning congressman who unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination.

  *Missouri Secretary of State, Robin Carnahan responds to reports of misleading text messages and "robo-calls" from around the state meant to discourage voters from heading to the polls. The messages were forwarded to the Secretary of State's office by several voters, and have been sent to the U.S. Attorney's office for further investigation. Carnahan says she has no tolerance for anyone intentionally causing confusion on Election Day. Two messages the secretary of state referred to were addressed to supporters of Obama. The messages tell Obama's supporters to vote Wednesday because of long delays.

Evening/Night

  *Early exit polls give Barack Obama the lead over John McCain in the swing states of Virginia, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Ohio and Nevada, predicting his overall win in the election later. The same polls show a close race in Florida.

  *Hundreds of people gather in a field in Kogelo, Obama's late father's village in Kenya, jubilating as key states fell to Obama. "We are going to the White House! We are going to the White House!" they sing at the top of their voices, dancing around the family's modest home. They hug each other and hoist small children into the air as they dance. In the village where Obama's 87-year-old grandmother lives, family members prepare to roast a bull in celebration. Villagers swarm the family home, beating drums and waving tree branches. Obama's grandmother was seen dancing and cheering the crowd outside her house.

  *Short of a final result, projections show Obama collected 297 electoral votes after sweeping traditional blue states in the west, including California (55), Washington (11) and Oregon (7), as well as the Pacific state of Hawaii (4). John McCain trails him with projected 145 electoral votes. A candidate needs 270 electoral votes to win.

  *Obama receives congratulatory phone calls from John McCain, the Republican senator he beat, and from President Bush.

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