US First Lady Michelle Obama brought the house down during a deeply personal and moving primetime address to the Democratic National Convention last night.

The first day of the Convention in Philadelphia got off to a rough start, with the Democrats becoming mired in controversy over an email leak that revealed how party officials apparently interfered with the primary selection process to favour Hillary Clinton over her rival, Bernie Sanders. But Mrs Obama turned things around with an electrifying speech in which she laid into Donald Trump and his candidacy - without ever once mentioning the Republican nominee's name. She also heaped praise on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton (she will be formally nominated on Thursday night), crediting the former First Lady and Secretary of State with making history already by becoming the first woman to ever lead a party into a presidential election. https://twitter.com/aterkel/status/757761950524776452 Michelle said:

"...when she did not win the nomination eight years ago, she did not get angry or disillusioned. Hillary did not pack up and go home because ... Hillary knows that this is so much bigger than her own disappointment. She proudly stepped up to serve our country once again as secretary of state, traveling the globe to keep our kids safe. There were moments when Hillary could have decided that this work was too hard, that the price of public service was too high, that she was tired of being [torn] apart for how she looked, or how she talked, or even how she laughed."

Visibly emotional, she added:

"And because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters and all of our sons and daughters now take for granted that a woman can be president of the United States."

However, the line that everyone will be talking about today is one that Obama delivered at the end of her speech. Talking about how America has always embraced progress - however slow - she credited the country and its people with evolving enough to lead to a moment where a black family could occupy the White House. https://twitter.com/THR/status/757765060420698112 She said:

"That is the story of this country. The story that has brought me to the stage tonight. The story of generations of people who felt the lash of bondage, the shame of servitude, the sting of segregation, who kept on striving, and hoping, and doing what needed to be done. So that today, I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves. And I watch my daughters — two beautiful intelligent black young women — play with the dog on the White House lawn."

https://twitter.com/asmamk/status/757759056614416384 People are raving about Mrs Obama's words, led by her husband and Clinton herself. https://twitter.com/POTUS/status/757763701101490176 https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/757769136269320193 https://twitter.com/NYDailyNews/status/757774271221563392 https://twitter.com/NickKristof/status/757763667433758721 https://twitter.com/TDurianKSTP/status/757762034809376768 https://twitter.com/lizmeriwether/status/757760836341563392 You can watch the full 14-minute speech here: https://youtu.be/4ZNWYqDU948 Or Vox has done a transcript if you'd prefer to read it. Elsewhere last night, Clinton's rival for the nomination, Bernie Sanders, backed Hillary for the presidency, and urged his supporters to do likewise. https://twitter.com/CNN/status/757805508778610688 And he gave a killer response to Trump's inevitable tweeting about the matter. https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/757779905593614336 As Michelle Obama said in her recent Carpool Karaoke video: