<P> Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919--October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era . Robinson broke the baseball color line when the Brooklyn Dodgers started him at first base on April 15, 1947 . When the Dodgers signed Robinson, they heralded the end of racial segregation in professional baseball that had relegated black players to the Negro leagues since the 1880s . Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962 . </P> <P> Robinson had an exceptional 10 - year MLB career . He was the recipient of the inaugural MLB Rookie of the Year Award in 1947, was an All - Star for six consecutive seasons from 1949 through 1954, and won the National League Most Valuable Player Award in 1949--the first black player so honored . Robinson played in six World Series and contributed to the Dodgers' 1955 World Series championship . </P> <P> In 1997, MLB retired his uniform number 42 across all major league teams; he was the first pro 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 . </P> <P> Robinson's character, his use of nonviolence, and his unquestionable talent challenged the traditional basis of segregation which then marked many other aspects of American life . He influenced the culture of and contributed significantly to the civil rights movement . Robinson also was the first black television analyst in MLB and the first black vice president of a major American corporation, Chock full o'Nuts . In the 1960s, he helped establish the Freedom National Bank, an African - American - owned financial institution based in Harlem, New York . After his death in 1972, in recognition of his achievements on and off the field, Robinson was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and Presidential Medal of Freedom . </P>

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