The 116th class of Congress broke barriers before its members even set foot in Washington, DC. One example: Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat and the first Somali-American member of Congress, noted the history of her election on Twitter.

“23 years ago, from a refugee camp in Kenya, my father and I arrived at an airport in Washington DC,” she tweeted, along with a photo of her and her father smiling with suitcases. “Today, we return to that same airport on the eve of my swearing in as the first Somali-American in Congress.”

NEW—ESPECIALLY FEMALE—FACES

Omar is just one ...