UNITED States President Barack Obama arrives in Kingston this evening for a one-day visit. The first US leader in office to come to Jamaica since Ronald Reagan in 1982, Obama’s election as his country’s first black president in 2008 is historic on several fronts. His background is different from previous presidents; he was not born in the ‘Lower 48’ states and spent much of his formative years living abroad in Asia.

Here’s Barack Obama’s timeline… the One Love Years.

August 1961

* Barack Hussein Obama is born in Honolulu, Hawaii to a Kenyan father and American mother.

* That year, businessman Leslie Kong launches the Beverley’s record label in Kingston. Dearest Beverley by 13-year-old singer Jimmy Cliff is his first production.

* The Rasta-inspired song Oh Carolina, produced by Prince Buster, is released in the United Kingdom.

1967

* Six-year-old Obama moves to Indonesia with his mother and stepfather.

* Singer Desmond Dekker enters the United Kingdom charts with (007) Shanty Town, a ‘rude boy’ song that finds favour with Skinheads and Mods in that country.

* Black American impresario Danny Sims and singer Johnny Nash visit Jamaica for recording sessions at Federal Studio in Kingston, owned by the Khouri family. They meet, and sign, The Wailers (Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Bunny ‘Wailer’ Livingston) the following year.

1971

* Obama, his mother and sister return to Honolulu.

* Filmmaker Perry Henzell puts the finishing touches on a low-budget movie titled The Harder They Come.

* Paul Simon records the song, Mother and Child Reunion, at Dynamic Studio in Kingston. Features Jamaican musicians Hux Brown (guitar), Jackie Jackson (bass) and Winston Grennan (drums). Cissy Houston, mother of Whitney, does backup vocals.

1978

* Barack Obama enters Occidental College in Los Angeles.

* The One Love Peace Concert with Bob Marley as headliner takes place in April at the National Stadium in Kingston.

* Inaugural Reggae Sunsplash is held in June at Jarrett Park in Montego Bay.

1981

* Obama attends Columbia College at Columbia University, majoring in political science/ international relations.

* Bob Marley dies May 6 in Miami, Florida from cancer at age 36.

1988

* Twenty-seven-year-old Obama enters Harvard Law School.

* Peter Tosh wins posthumous Grammy Award for No Nuclear War. The singer was murdered by gunmen at his St Andrew home in September 1987.

1996

* Barack Obama enters the Illinois State Senate.

* Fire Pon Rome, a hard-hitting song by deejay Anthony B, is banned from Jamaican radio for its criticism of corporate and political leaders.

* Shaggy rules international charts with his Boombastic album.

November 2008

* Democrat Barack Obama is elected president of the United States, defeating Republican John McCain.

* The victory is celebrated in song by reggae artistes including singer Cocoa Tea, whose Barack Obama is a staple on West Indian radio in North America.