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Think you know your election trivia?

  • Story Highlights
  • If Barack Obama wins, he will become the first African-American president
  • If McCain wins, Sarah Palin will be the nation's first female vice president
  • Nineteen of the 43 presidents have been Republicans; 14 have been Democrats
  • The most states ever won by a presidential candidate is 49
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(CNN) -- As millions head to the polls Tuesday, history will be made. Either Barack Obama will become the first African-American president, or Sarah Palin will become the first female vice president.

The 2008 presidential election will have a historic outcome, whichever ticket wins.

The 2008 presidential election will have a historic outcome, whichever ticket wins.

But what about all the other history and trivia from the past 219 years? Check out some tidbits to quench any political junkies' thirst, impress friends and maybe even win a few bar bets.

Election 2008

• Either John McCain or Obama will be the first incumbent member of Congress to be elected president since John F. Kennedy in 1960.

• Either McCain or Obama will become only the third senator to move directly from the U.S. Senate to the White House. The other two senators: Warren G. Harding (1920) and John F. Kennedy (1960).

• This year's contest marks the 25th presidential election without an incumbent president on the ballot.

• This is the first election in 24 years without a Bush or a Clinton heading a major party's presidential ticket.

McCain/Obama scenarios

• If McCain wins, he will be the first president from Arizona.

• If McCain wins, he will have headed the first successful GOP presidential ticket in 80 years that did not include someone named Bush or Nixon.

• If McCain wins, Palin will become the first vice president from Alaska.

• If Obama wins, he will be the third president from Illinois. The first two: Abraham Lincoln (elected in 1860 and 1864) and Ulysses S. Grant (elected in 1868 and 1872).

• If Obama wins, he will be the 27th lawyer to become president. Bill Clinton was the last lawyer elected president, and the first was John Adams.

• If Obama wins, Joe Biden will become the first vice president from Delaware.

Past presidential races

• Nineteen of America's 43 presidents have been Republicans; 14 have been Democrats.

• The first Republican president was Abraham Lincoln, who was elected in 1860 and 1864. Andrew Jackson, elected in 1828 and 1832, was the first presidential candidate to run (and win) as a Democrat.

• The House has twice decided the presidential election because no candidate received a majority in the Electoral College (Thomas Jefferson in 1800 and John Quincy Adams in 1824).

• The most states ever won by a presidential candidate is 49. In 1972, Richard Nixon carried every state except Massachusetts; in 1984, Ronald Reagan carried every state except Minnesota. Both lost the District of Columbia. The most states ever won by a Democratic presidential candidate is 46. In 1936, Franklin Roosevelt carried 46 of 48 states, failing to capture only Maine and Vermont.

• Four presidents have won the presidency while losing the popular vote: John Quincy Adams (1824), Rutherford B. Hayes (1876), Benjamin Harrison (1888) and George W. Bush (2000).

In the House and Senate

• Democrats controlled both houses of Congress from 1955 to 1981. This 26-year stretch is the longest any single party has controlled both chambers of Congress. (The GOP took control of the Senate in 1981.)

• The last time the Democrats won the White House while maintaining control of the House and the Senate was in 1992.

• The last time the Republicans won the White House without electing a majority in either the House or the Senate was in 1988.

• Sixteen women currently serve in the Senate. Three -- Susan Collins, Elizabeth Dole and Mary Landrieu -- are up for re-election this year. Seventy-one women currently serve in the House as voting members.

CNN's Robert Yoon and Alan Silverleib contributed to this report.

All About U.S. Presidential ElectionBarack ObamaJohn McCain

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