History was made on Thursday in Washington at the official opening of the 116th Congress. Notable among them was the record number of women that were sworn in as well as other historic firsts.
Ilhan Omar, who fled from war-torn Somalia and lived in a refugee camp in Kenya before heading to America became the first Somali-American former refugee as well as one of the two Muslim women to be sworn into Congress.
Below are some other historic firsts:
32-year-old Lauren Underwood of Illinois became the youngest Black woman ever sworn into Congress.
Jahana Hayes became Connecticut’s first black congresswoman.
Ayanna Pressley became Massachusetts’ first black Congresswoman.
Rashida Tlaib of Michigan alongside Ilhan became the first Muslim congresswomen.
Deb Haaland of New Mexico and Sharice Davids of Kansas became the first Native American women in Congress.
29-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York became the youngest woman ever elected to Congress.
Sylvia Garcia and Veronica Escobar became Texas’ first Latina Congresswomen.
Nancy Pelosi retained her position as the first and only female House speaker.
