I remember it very clearly. It was a cold night and it (1) rained / was raining heavily outside. I (2) did / was doing the washing-up in the kitchen when my daughter (3) called / was calling through from the living room with the result: Barack Obama (4)became / had become the first African-American president of the United States. We (5) were following / had followed his campaign closely and we were really happy when we (6) had heard / heard the news. Whether you agreed with his politics or not, it was a very important event for world politics.