The British press hailed Wednesday Barack Obama`s victory in the US presidential race, saying it was good for America and good for the world.

`One Giant Leap for Mankind,` ran the front-page headline on the mass-market tabloid the Sun, while the Independent had a picture of the Democratic presidential-elect with the headline `The History Man.`

`So often crudely caricatured by others, the American people yesterday stood in the eye of history and made an emphatic choice for change for themselves and the world,` said the left-leaning Guardian.

`They did it. They really did it,` it added.

The right-of-centre Times hailed the huge turnout in the elections as proof of the energy and expectations of a `rejuvenated American democracy` -- and described the results of that democracy as `head-spinning`.

`The country regarded loftily by many Europeans as hopelessly racist and irredeemably right wing has voted to be ruled by a black man, at the head of a party committed to economic redistribution and a foreign policy rooted in peaceful diplomatic engagement,` the newspaper said.

The election result came too late for most British morning newspapers, but late editions squeezed the news on to their front pages, with the the daily Express headlining: `A new world dawns.`