The complete list of state records below shows that the Plains states, far away from the ocean, can be hotter than the humid Southeast. The USA's highest temperature, 134Â° on July 10, 1913 in Death Valley, Calif., is also the official highest temperature in the Western Hemisphere. Ordinary summer heat makes much of the Southwest, including Death Valley, sizzle from June through August.
A year earlier, Pollard and Bobby Marshall were the first two black players in professional football history and helped the Pros win the championship in the NFLâs inaugural season. The Pros ran the single-wing, and Pollard was the player lined up behind the center who received the snaps.
Earl Lloyd becomes first black player in the NBA. On October 31, 1950, 21-year-old Earl Lloyd becomes the first African-American to play in an NBA game when he takes the court in the season opener for the Washington Capitols. Lloyd grew up in Jim Crow Virginia and went to West Virginia State, where he was the star of the schoolâs championship basketball team.