Rima Fakih, Miss USA 2010

Miss Michigan 2010, Rima Fakih made history after becoming the first Arab-American to be crowned Miss USA 2010.

Fakih, who is of Lebanese Muslim descent, resides in Dearborn, Michigan, which is home to a large Arab-American community.

The win is being seen as a welcome event especially at a time when Arabs in the US have been stereotyped in a negative light ever since the terror attacks on September 11, 2001.

The 24-year-old was born in New York in 1986, raised in Dearborn with her parents and her younger brother Rami.

Fakih told pageant officials that her family celebrates both Muslim and Christian faiths.

Asked how she felt after winning the crown during the primetime NBC telecast, Fakih replied: "Ask me after I've had a pizza."

Fakih is the first ever Arab-American to win the title, the first ever Muslim-American Miss USA and the first Miss Michigan to become Miss USA since Kenya Moore in 1993.