A is for Stanley Ann Dunham, Obama's mother, who grew up the daughter of an oil-rig worker in smalltown Kansas
B is for Barack Snr, Obama's father, who was born into a Muslim family in the small African village of Nyangoma-Kogelo in Kenya and grew up herding goats
C is for Chicago, the city that Obama calls home, and where he took his first job with a church group working in high crime inner city estates. Also for Chilli, the dish Obama says he cooks best
D is for Dreams from my Father, Obama's first best-selling book. D is also for drunk — the state that Barack Snr was in when he died in a car crash in August 1982
E is for e-mails. Hostile messages are still circulating on the internet claiming that Obama (middle name: Hussein) is a Muslim and a jihadi sympathiser opposed to the American way of life
F is for the number five — Obama was only the fifth African-American in US history to become a Senator. He now seems certain to be the first black candidate to run for President on a major party ticket
G is for garden. Extending his, through a murky land-deal involving his fundraiser Tony Rezko (see R), was a "bone-headed mistake", Obama has admitted
H is for Hawaii, where Obama's parents met at university. Obama was born on August 4 1961 and spent his first six years in Honolulu, though his parents split up when he was two
I is for Indonesia, where Obama moved after his mother briefly remarried, to oil manager Lolo Soetoro
J is for Jakarta, where Obama went to school until he was ten. J is also for the Reverend Jeremiah Wright, the black Chicago church pastor who baptised the Obama children. Obama disowned him after his race-tinged rants threatened to alienate white voters
K is for Kenya, the country where Obama's grandfather was a domestic servant to the British. Also for Dennis Kucinich, the no-hope Democratic contender that Obama accidentally voted for in the Illinois primary
L is for Leo, Obama's star sign . Also for Luo, his family's tribal heritage in Kenya
M is for Michelle LaVaughn Robinson, who he married on October 3 1992, and Malia, their elder daughter, and also for Maya Kassandra Soetoro, the half-sister with whom he grew up
N is for Nadhmi Auchi, the British-Iraqi billionaire who lent $3.5million (£1.7million) to Obama's fundraiser Tony Rezko in the weeks before Obama bought a grand house in Chicago (see R)
O is for ovarian cancer, the disease which killed Obama's mother in 1995 — "in many ways one of the most spiritually-awakened people I have ever known". Also for Oprah, one of Obama's most influential supporters
P is for poker, which Obama claims is his hidden talent
Q is for quitting smoking, something Obama says he used to do regularly
R is for Antoin 'Tony' Rezko, Obama's friend and political fundraiser, who negotiated the $3.5million loan from Mr Auchi. Rezko was indicted for fraud and extortion in 2006
S is for Sarah, Obama's paternal step-grandmother, who is in her 80s and still lives on the family farm in Kenya. Also for Springfield, the small town in Illinois where he declared his candidacy on February 10, 2007
T is for The Audacity of Hope, Obama's second best-selling book, which took its title from a sermon by Rev Jeremiah Wright (see J)
U is for "a little mini United Nations", the way Obama describes his family. "I've got relatives who look like Bernie Mac, and I've got relatives who look like Margaret Thatcher. We've got it all."
V is for victory — Obama finally passed the magic number of 2,118 delegates last night, and told a rally in St Paul's, Minnesota: "America, this is our moment."
W is for Wisconsin, the state where Michelle Obama controversially remarked in February that "for the first time in my adult life, I am proud of my country because it feels like hope is finally making a comeback."
X is for David Axelrod, the brilliant political strategist whom Obama first enlisted in 2002 to help him run for the Senate
Y is for youth — the ability to inspire young people to vote has been key to his success
Z is for Jay-Z, the rapper whose song 99 Problems (But A Bitch Ain't One) caused a stir at an Obama rally in January. Analysts thought it was a reference to Hillary Clinton.
美国民主党伊利诺伊州参议员巴拉克·奥巴马日前击败纽约州参议员希拉里·克林顿，获得美国历史上第一位黑人总统候选人提名。英国《泰晤士报》以26个英文字母的形式，盘点和分析了对奥巴马来说最为重要的26个人和事件。
A——代表奥巴马的母亲斯坦利·安·邓纳姆(Ann)，她是堪萨斯州一个钻塔石油工人的女儿，被人们亲切地称为“来自堪萨斯的白人女子”，她对奥巴马的一生产生了巨大的影响。
B——代表奥巴马的父亲老巴拉克(Barack Snr)，他出生在非洲国家肯尼亚的一个小村庄中，以牧羊为生。后来前往夏威夷留学，并在那里认识了奥巴马的母亲斯坦利。
C——代表芝加哥(Chicago)，奥巴马称这里为自己的家，他在那里找到了第一份工作，并且加入了芝加哥三一联合基督教会。此外C还代表红辣椒(Chilli)，据说是奥巴马的拿手好菜。
D——代表奥巴马第一本畅销书《父亲的梦想》(Dreams from my Father)。同时也代表酗酒(drunk)，1982年8月，奥巴马的父亲巴贝拉克因为酒后驾车，发生事故死亡。
E——代表电子邮件(e-mails)。美国一个保守主义团体曾在网站上发布广告，将奥巴马和Osama bin Laden 扯在一起。因为乌萨马(Osama)与奥巴马(Obama)两个词，在英文中仅一个字母的差别。
F——代表数字五(five)。奥巴马是美国历史上第五个成为参议员的非洲裔美国人。现在他似乎有望成为美国历史上第一位黑人总统。
G——代表花园(garden)，延伸为土地交易。奥巴马的老朋友兼募资经理托尼·雷兹科被证明犯有诈骗罪，并利用他的政治关系来要求回扣并赢得政府合同。奥巴马已经承认，这是一种“笨蛋”行为。
H——代表夏威夷(Hawaii)。奥巴马的父母就是在当地大学中一见钟情的。奥巴马是1961年8月4日出生的，在夏威夷首府檀香山生活了六年，尽管父母在他两岁的时候就分开了。
I——代表印尼(Indonesia)。奥巴马曾与母亲和继父苏托罗在印尼生活了一段时间。
J——代表雅加达(Jakarta)。奥巴马在那里开始上学，直到10岁。J还代表他的牧师杰里米亚·赖特，他为奥巴马洗礼。但为了在总统提名战中胜出，奥巴马已经与频频发表发对言论的牧师“决裂”。
K——代表肯尼亚(Kenya)，那是奥巴马祖辈生活的地方。K也代表丹尼斯·库钦奇(Dennis Kucinich)，是伊利诺伊州民主党初选中被奥巴马打败的第一个总统候选人对手。
L——代表奥巴马的签名(Leo)。也代表着卢奥民族(Luo)，是其肯尼亚家族部落的标志。
M——代表他的妻子米歇尔(Michelle LaVaughn Robinson)和他们的长女玛丽雅(Malia)，以及奥巴马同母异父的妹妹马娅(Maya Soetoro)。
N——代表英籍伊拉克亿万富翁纳达米·奥奇(Nadhmi Auchi)。他曾在奥巴马在芝加哥购买一套豪华别墅几周前，借350万美元给他的募资经理托尼·雷兹科。
O——代表卵巢癌(ovarian cancer)，1995年，奥巴马的母亲因患卵巢癌去世。O还代表美国脱口秀节目女王欧普拉·温芙蕾(Oprah)，她是奥巴马最有影响力的支持者之一。
P——代表纸牌游戏(poker)，奥巴马声称那是他的隐藏天赋。
Q——代表戒烟(quitting smoking)，据说这是奥巴马过去经常做的一件事情。
R——还是代表奥巴马的募资经理托尼·雷兹科(Rezko)。
S——代表奥巴马的继母莎拉，如今她已80岁高龄了，依然生活在肯尼亚农场中。S还代表伊利诺伊州小镇斯普林菲尔德，2007年2月10日，奥巴马就是从这里宣布开始竞选总统候选人资格的。
T——代表奥巴马第二本畅销书《大无畏的希望》(The Audacity of Hope)，据说这本书的书名来自奥巴马牧师赖特的说教。
U——代表奥巴马对自己家庭的描述：“一个袖珍联合国”(a little mini United Nations)。他说：“我有的亲戚像喜剧明星伯尼·迈克，有的看起来像撒切尔夫人，简直什么样的人都有。”
V——代表胜利(victory)。奥巴马4日晚上获得了2118个代表的支持投票，获得了美国民主党总统候选人提名。
W——代表代表威斯康星州(Wisconsin)。奥巴马的妻子米歇尔于2007年2月份在威斯康辛州一个集会中宣称：“她成年后第一次为国家感到自豪”。
X——代表大卫·艾素罗德(David Axelrod)，他是2002年奥巴马第一个征募的政治战略家，帮助他赢得参议员席位。
Y——代表青春(youth)。鼓励年轻人投票是奥巴马取得成功的一个关键因素。
Z——代表著名说唱歌手Jay-Z。他在1月份发行的《99个问题》歌曲中，给奥巴马阵营带来一系列震动。分析家们认为他可能与希拉里有关。(李金良)