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.
Maynard Holbrook Jackson Jr. was an American politician and attorney from Georgia, a member of the Democratic Party, and elected in 1973 at the age of 35 as the first African-American mayor of Atlanta, Georgia and of any major city in the South. He served three terms, making him the second longest-serving mayor of Atlanta, after six-term mayor William B. Hartsfield. He is notable also for public works projects, primarily the new Maynard H. Jackson International terminal at the Atlanta airport, a