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Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972), better known as Jackie Robinson, was an American baseball player. He became the first African American to become a player of Major League Baseball (MLB). He broke the color barrier of baseball during the time when he started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers on April 15, 1947. When the Dodgers signed Robinson, they announced the end of racial segregation in professional baseball, which had put black players to the colored-only leagues since the 1880s. Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.
During his 10-year MLB career, Robinson won awards, including the inaugural Rookie of the Year Award in 1947, an All-Star for six consecutive seasons from 1949 through 1954, and the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1949. Robinson played in six World Series; he contributed to the Dodgers' 1955 World Series championship.
In 1997, MLB retired his uniform number 42 across all major league teams. He was the first professional athlete in any sport to be so honored. MLB also adopted a new annual tradition, "Jackie Robinson Day", for the first time on April 15, 2004, on which every player on every team wears No. 42.
Robinson's character, his use of nonviolence, and his unquestionable talent challenged the traditional basis of segregation, which had affected/marked many other aspects of American life. He influenced the culture of and made a large contribution to the civil rights movement. Robinson also became the first black television analyst in MLB, as well as the first black vice president of a major American corporation, Chock full o'Nuts. In the 1960s, he helped establish an African-American-owned financial institution based in Harlem, New York, known as the Freedom National Bank. He attended the famous March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom to show his support for civil rights. After his death in 1972, Robinson was posthumously awarded two honors: the Congressional Gold Medal and Presidential Medal of Freedom, in recognition of his achievements he made in his life.
The 2013 movie 42 is based on Robinson's path to the majors, where Robinson was portrayed by Chadwick Boseman.