On January 20th, 2009, Barack H. Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America - the first African-American ever to hold the office of U.S. Commander-in- Chief. The event was witnessed by well over one million attendees in chilly Washington D.C., and by many millions more through coverage on television and the Internet. Collected here are photographs of the event, the participants, and some of the witnesses around the world.

The Capitol is illuminated in the early morning hours before the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America January 20, 2009 in Washington, DC. (David McNew/Getty Images)

President-elect Barack Obama takes the oath of office from Chief Justice John Roberts to become the 44th President of the United States on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

This image provided by GeoEye Satellite Image shows Washington D.C.'s National Mall and the United States Capitol (top), in Washington D.C. on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009 taken at 11:19AM EDT during the inauguration of President Barack Obama. The image, taken through high, wispy white clouds, shows the masses of people between the Capitol and the Washington Monument. (AP Photo/GeoEye Satellite Image)

Residents of Kibera, one of the poorest quarters in Nairobi gather to watch the inauguration ceremony of US President Barack Obama in Nairobi on January 20, 2009. (YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images)

Shoppers watch the inauguration of President Barack Obama at the Best Buy Store at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minn., Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

Spectators in Times Square watch President Barack Obama take the oath of office during his inauguration Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009 in New York. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

People cheer at the Washington Monument during the inauguration ceremony of U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington January 20, 2009. (REUTERS/Mark Blinch)

President Barack Obama delivers his inaugural address after being sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts as the 44th president of the United States as the 44th President of the United States of America at the Capitol January 20, 2009 in Washington, DC. (Jim Bourg-Pool/Getty Images)

Villagers of Nyang'oma Kogelo, the Kenyan village where 44th US President Barack Obama's father was born, react as they watch on a giant screen inauguration ceremony of US President Barack Obama, on January 20, 2009. Thousands of people from around and beyond Kogelo, including foreign tourists gathered at Nyang'oma village to celebrate the inauguration of Obama. (TONY KARUMBA/AFP/ Getty Images)

Iraqis gather to watch televised coverage of the inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama at a cafe in the Shiite stronghold of Sadr City in Baghdad, Iraq on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Karim Kadim)

Cecilia Perez, center, watches the inauguration of U.S. President Barack Obama with Oscar Rodriguez at her taco stand in Mexico City, Jan. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)

People watch a big television screen broadcasting Barack Obama being sworn in as the 44th President of the United States of America on the West Front of the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009 during a ceremony at the Paris town hall in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Jacques Brinon)

People attend the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th president of the United States on the National Mall January 20, 2009 in Washington, DC. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

U.S. President Barack H. Obama greets guests after he is sworn in as the 44th president of the United States on the West Front of the Capitol January 20, 2009 in Washington, DC. (J. Scott Applewhite-Pool/ Getty Images)

US Army Command Sgt. Maj. Julia Kelley, left, of the 229th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, weeps as she watches the inauguration of US President Barack Obama at Camp Liberty in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009.

The Rev. Joseph Lowery gives the benediction during the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America on the West Front of the Capitol January 20, 2009 in Washington, DC. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

People gather for the inauguration of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States of America on the National Mall January 20, 2009 in Washington, DC. (Mario Tama/Getty Images)

President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle stand with former US president George W. Bush and Laura Bush on the steps of the US Capitol following the inaugural ceremony for Obama as 44th US president in Washington on January 20, 2009. (EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images)

Keith Hart, center, a Vietnam Army veteran, cheers as he watches Barack Obama be inaugurated as president, on television with other patrons of the Oxford Bar in Missoula, Mt., one of the oldest bars in Montana, on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Michael Albans)

Vertie Hodge, 74, weeps during an Inauguration Day party near Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd. in Houston on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2009 after President Barack Obama delivered his speech after taking the oath of office, becoming the first black president in the United States. (AP Photo/Houston Chronicle, Mayra Beltran)

Members of a US Navy Honor Guard stand at attention as US President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama arrive at the Presidential Reviewing Stand during the Inaugural Parade January 20, 2009 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla/ Getty Images)

A woman looks through binoculars at the Capitol building during the inauguration ceremony of Barack Obama as the 44th President of the United States in Washington, January 20, 2009. (REUTERS/Jessica Rinaldi)