Most popular Inauguration- Barack Obama inauguration sets world records

  WASHINGTON, USA -- A record number* of people have watched the inauguration ceremony of U.S. President Barack Obama , both live (over 2 million people) and online (45.5 million video streams ** )-setting the world record for the Most popular inauguration .   
Barack Hussein Obama was sworn in Tuesday as the 44th president of the United States, writing a new chapter in American history as the first African-American to hold the nation's highest office. ( enlarge photo )

   From the National Mall to restaurants, school halls and homes across the United States, Americans cheered Obama not only for the significance he represents as the 44th president and the first African American to ascend to the office, but for the hope that he can revive a sick economy and stem increasing joblessness.

  Nearer the Capitol, inauguration-goers stood shoulder to shoulder, at one point packed so tightly that reaching into a pocket became nearly impossible.



   The crush in the morning was so large that, for a while, authorities shut off access to the eastern section of the mall between the Capitol and the Washington Monument, an area that when tightly packed can accommodate about 1 million people.

   Elsewhere, long lines of people waited for hours to get through security checkpoints to watch the inaugural parade down Pennsylvania Avenue. And Washington's subway system was jammed starting before dawn as more than 545,000 people boarded trains before noon, when Obama was sworn in.

    The previous world record for attendance of the presidential inauguration is held by Lyndon B. Johnson, who drew 1.2 million in 1965.

Online
 "In addition to the historic nature of the Inauguration, it is now clear that this event has driven unprecedented demand from a global online audience," says Robert Hughes, Akamai's executive vice president of global sales, services and marketing.
    "With the inauguration occurring during work-day hours in the U.S., we witnessed record numbers of live streams served in support of many leading news businesses."

Fastest website change
   In the end, change happened in seconds. President Barack Obama had barely let go of the Bible on which he had sworn the oath of office before the front page of the White House website

Photo: Composite of White House website before and after Barack Obama's inauguration ( enlarge photo )

   At 12.01pm eastern standard time, out went the rather text-heavy Bush administration front page on whitehouse.gov , with its sections on: Global War on Terror; the Freedom Agenda; the Bush Record and Mrs Bush's Leadership.  

    Instead those clicking on it were welcomed by a smiling photograph of President Obama under the headline : "Change has come to America", along with a gallery of images that included the whole Obama family getting out and interacting with the community and text sections on subjects such as Honouring Dr King's Legacy and Serving America.

     Before midday, the website had a picture of George Bush, holding hands with Laura Bush making their way along a
red carpet laid outside the north portico of the White House.
    It now says: " WhiteHouse.gov will be a central part of President Obama's pledge to make his the most transparent and accountable administration in American history." 

Obama's inauguration by the numbers:
* 5,000: The number of portable toilets to be distributed on the National Mall
    * 240,000: That is how many tickets were distributed, free of charge, for the swearing-in ceremony on Capitol Hill.
    * 55: The number of previous presidential inaugurations.
    * 1 million: The number of people expected to view the inauguration from the National Mall ( only ). Hundreds of thousands more will pack Pennsylvania Avenue to watch the inaugural parade.
( enlarge photo )
The record was set during the 1965 inauguration of Lyndon B. Johnson, when 1.2 million people attended.
     * $8,249 (5,995 pounds): The price of a seat at the swearing-in ceremony being advertised by one online ticket broker.
     * 850: Washington's Metro rail service had that many rail cars, capable of carrying 120,000 people every hour, operating between 4 a.m. and 9 p.m. on the day.
      * 8,000: Some 4,000 city police officers were deployed along with 4,000 from 96 other law enforcement agencies across the country.
* 32,000: The total number of military personnel who were on duty or on standby for the inauguration.

    (**) The  online audience :
 -Akamai Technologies: 7.7 million people watching video streams
 -Limelight said 2.5 million people watched the inauguration on sites that use Limelight for delivery, with most of the viewers staying for Obama's entire speech.
 - CNN.com had served more than 21.3 million live video streams, smashing its Election Day record of 5.3 million streams (By 3:30 EST on Tuesday)
 - MSNBC delivered more than 14 million video streams by 1 p.m. EST.


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Largest human peace sign-world record set by the Ithaca Festival

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Most successful female recording artist-world record set by Madonna

   Wednesday, January 21, 2009

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