50 THING YOU MIGHT NOT KNOW ABOUT OBAMA

Barack Obama: The 50 facts you might not know Fifty things you might not know about Barack Obama FROM "THE TELEGRAPH" • 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 • 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 • 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 • 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 • 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 • He drives a Ford Escape Hybrid, having ditched his gas-guzzling Chrysler 300 • 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 "Bar" by his late grandmother • 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 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