On July 10, the area entered the history books when the mercury climbed to a blistering 134 degrees Fahrenheit (57 degrees Celsius) at Furnace Creek, California, breaking the record for the highest temperature ever recorded.
Carl Stokes, the first black mayor of a major American city: Black History Month. View full sizePlain Dealer file photoCarl Stokes, shown in 1968 in downtown Cleveland, focused many of his efforts as mayor on improving city services and helping Cleveland's poorest residents.
USA: Black women of American Presidents. President Barack Obama, the first president (mixed) black of the United States is by no means the first to have a black woman as a tenant of the White House. Four U.S. presidents had black concubines with whom they had offspring.