Rima Fakih Miss USA 2010

Full name: Rima Fakih.

Born : October 2, 1986 (age23).

Rima Fakih is an American beauty pageant titleholder and winner of Miss USA 2010. She won the Miss Michigan USA pageant on September 19, 2009, and the Miss USA pageant on May 16, 2010. She is the first Miss Michigan to win the Miss USA title since Kenya Moore in 1993, and is the second Miss USA of Lebanese-American descent, after Julie Hayek in 1983. Fakih currently resides in Dearborn, Michigan.

Born in Lebanon, Fakih grew up in Queens, New York, where she attended a Catholic school, St. John's Prep. Her family moved to Dearborn, Michigan, in 2003.

Though Shiite Muslim, her family celebrates elements of both the Muslim and Christian faiths. With Fakih's victory, Michigan has provided two firsts in Miss USA pageant history; in 1990, Carole Gist became the first African American Miss USA, and Fakih is believed to be the first Arab American and the first of the Muslim faith to win the title.

Fakih is a graduate of the University of Michigan–Dearborn with degrees in economics and business management. She plans to attend law school after her year-long reign.

The Miss USA beauty contest 2009 and 2010

The Miss USA beauty contest has been held annually since 1952 to select the United States entrant in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operates both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA.

The Miss USA pageant was conceived in 1950 when Yolande Betbeze, winner of the rival Miss America pageant refused to pose for publicity pictures while wearing a swimsuit.

Pageant sponsor Catalina decided to pull their sponsorship off the pageant, and create their own competition. Other owners have included a subsidiary of Gulf+Western Industries, ITT Corporation, and billionaire Donald Trump, the current owner who bought the pageant in 1996.

The first Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants were held concurrently in Long Beach, California in 1952; the first Miss USA winner was Miss New York USA Jackie Loughery. There were thirty delegates in the first year of competition, and many states did not compete every year during the first two decades of the pageant's history.

From the 1970s, each state and the District of Columbia have sent a delegate each year. Alaska first competed in 1959 and Hawaii in 1960. Both had competed at Miss Universe until this time.