""Today, we're hoping to see history," Anad Thomas, a 32-year-old nurse from Westchester County, N.Y., said as she rode down 16th Street on a crowded bus just before 7 a.m. Her personal survival kit included peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and plenty of tissues, along with a camera.

Ms. Thomas acknowledged that, as a black person, she was thrilled that Mr. Obama was to become president. But she said she was inspired more by his character than by his complexion, by his demonstration that "you don't have to be nasty to make it."

Milton Nathaniel Barnes, the Liberian ambassador to the United Nations, called the event "absolutely historic."

"The world changes today, as far as I am concerned," Mr. Barnes said.

And Peter Ogego, the Kenyan ambassador to the United States, where Mr. Obama's father was born, said the inauguration was "a triumph for the ideals of democracy, and it's hope for us in Africa."

And hope, too, for the neighborhoods in the District of Columbia's Anacostia section, parts of which have endured punishing poverty and crime over the years. Watching the crowds on television, Wayne Dyson said the gathering reminded him of the multitude he had witnessed as a child in 1963, when Dr. King spoke.

"This is a moment that was foreseen long ago," said Mr. Dyson, a chef by training. "We knew this day would come. It means a lot to people around here.""...NYT