I thought I knew everything about Barack Obama. I have followed his career and researched his early years, yet, according to an article written by Vinette K. Pryce, writing for Caribbean Life, there is more to the man.

Fifty facts were listed about Barack Obama, and there were twenty facts that I did not know. They are:

1 - He announced the opening of 8,000 jobs available to qualified candidates who may apply at change.gov (This website also has all the information you could possibly want about the President-elect).

2 - I know he gave his campaign staff one month’s additional salary upon their retirement, but I did not know he also gave them the Blackberry phones and computers they used.

3 - He won a Grammy in 2006 for the audio version of his book “Dreams From My Father.”

4 - His name in Swahili means, “one who is blessed.”

5 - In High School, he was known as “O’Bomber” due to his skills at basketball.

6 - He is left handed - the sixth post-war left handed president.

7 - He owns a set of red boxing gloves autographed by Muhammad Ali.

8 - As a teenager, he worked in a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop and now can’t stand ice cream.

9 - Black forest berry iced tea is his favorite drink.

10 - While living in Indonesia, he kept a pet ape named Tata.

11 - He can bench press 200 lbs.

12 - In 1996, he visited Wokingham, Berkshire (UK), for the stag party of his half-sister’s fiancé. When the stripper arrived - he left!

13 - He and wife Michelle earned $4.2 million dollars in 2007, with much of the income coming from sales of his books.

14 - While at Harvard, he applied to appear in a Black pin-up calendar but was rejected by the all female committee.

15 - His favorite music includes The Fugees, Miles Davis, Bob Dylan, and Bach.

16 - On his first date with Michelle, he took her to see the Spike Lee film “Do the Right Thing.”

17 - He enjoys playing poker and Scrabble.

18 - He owns four identical pairs of size 11 shoes.

19 - On his desk, he keeps a carving of a wooden hand holding an egg, a Kenyan symbol of the fragility of life.

20 - His late father worked for the Kenyan government as a senior economist.

As time goes by, with Barack Obama on the world stage, I’m sure there will be more interesting facts made available.