November 5, 2008--Civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.'s sister, Christine King Farris, celebrates U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama's win Tuesday night at a Baptist church in Atlanta, Georgia.

History was made when Obama, 47, became the United States' first African-American President.

Obama took 52 percent of the popular vote, while his Republican opponent, John McCain, earned 46 percent.

The election saw the highest American voter turnout in 40 years, with nearly 120 million people casting ballots, experts estimated.

Around the globe people took to the streets to revel in Obama's win, considered by many an inspiration for minorities and a sign that the U.S. plans to change direction, the Washington Post reported.