His parents were Jerry and Mallie Robinson, and his older siblings were Edgar, Frank, Matthew (AKA Mack), and Willa Mae.
President Theodore Roosevelt was the inspiration for Jackie’s middle name: Roosevelt. He died 25 days before Robinson was born.
April 15th is celebrated as Jackie Robinson Day in Major League Baseball, to commemorate that day in 1947, when he became the first African-American to play in the Majors.
Jackie lettered in football, basketball, track and baseball at UCLA. He was also an accomplished tennis player, and had won the junior boys singles championship in the Pacific Coast Negro Tennis Tournament.
Jackie Robinson’s middle name is Roosevelt, in honor of United States President Theodore Roosevelt who died only 25 days before Jackie was born.
In 1942, Jackie was drafted into the Army and stationed in Fort Hood, Texas.
Jackie attended John Muir High School along with Ted Williams and Bob Lemons, both fellow future Baseball Hall of Famers. In high school all three played on the Pemona Annual Baseball Tournament All-Star Team.
He became friends with heavyweight boxer Joe Louis.
Jackie Robinson excelled at several sports in high school and in college, including baseball, football, basketball and track.
Jackie Robinson used his celebrity to increase awareness about social injustice.
Jackie Robinson’s older brother Mack won a silver medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics for the 200 meter sprint.
He fundraised for freedom riders and lobbied politicians to support key civil rights initiatives.
Jackie Robinson lettered at the varsity level in four sports at John Muir High School including football, baseball, basketball, and track.
He was a board member of the NAACP and campaigned all across the country in support of the Movement.
In 1936 Jackie Robinson won the annual Pacific Coast Negro Tennis Tournament for junior boy’s singles.
No. 42, is the only number to be retired across all of Major League Baseball.
Jackie Robinson was the first person ever to win four letters at UCLA, for football, track, basketball, and baseball.
Upon retiring from baseball, Jackie Robinson became the first African American Vice President at a major US corporation, Chock Full O’ Nuts.
In 1942 Jackie Robinson was drafted into the army. He became friends with boxer Joe Louis.
He founded Freedom National Bank in Harlem in 1964, a time during which there were very few black-owned banks.
Jackie Robinson was arrested by military police for refusing to sit at the back of the bus. He was later acquitted and served as an Army athletics coach until 1944 when he was honorably discharged.
Jackie Robinson appeared on a U.S. postage stamp in 1982.
Jackie Robinson was signed to the Kansas City Monarchs in 1945, making $400 a month (great money at the time about $5100 a month today). That same year he was placed in the Negro League All-Star Game.
e was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984 by Ronald Reagan.
In 1946 Jackie Robinson married Rachel Islum. They had three children together.
He was featured on both a gold and silver coin produced by the U.S. Mint in 1997.
Jackie Robinson played for the Montreal Royals in Minor League Baseball in 1946.
Jackie Robinson was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal, the nation’s highest honor, in 2005.
In 1947, on April 15th, Jackie Robinson became the first African-American to play in the Major Leagues. He played for the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, New York.
He portrayed himself in the film, ‘The Jackie Robinson story’.
He won Rookie of the Year in 1947.
The Jackie Robinson Story, directed by Alfred E. Green, was released in 1950.
Baseball spectators often yelled racial slurs at Jackie Robinson.
Jack “Jackie” Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31, 1919, in Cairo, Georgia.
Jackie Robinson was a six-time All-Star from 1949 until 1954.
Jackie was the youngest of five children.
In 1950 a movie was made called The Jackie Robinson Story. He played himself.
Jackie Robinson attended John Muir High School, where he was placed on the Pomona Annual Baseball Tournament All-Star Team with fellow future MLB Hall of Famers Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox and Bob Lemon of the Cleveland Indians.
Jackie Robinson played in a total of six World Series. His team won in 1955, against the New York Yankees.
Jackie’s brother Mack was an adept athlete and a splendid sprinter.
Jackie Robinson retired in 1956 due to diabetes. He was 37 years old.
In 1942, Jackie Robinson was drafted into the Army.
In 1962 Jackie Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Jackie Robinson was assigned to a segregated Army Cavalry unit in Fort Riley, Kansas.
Jackie Robinson was heavily involved in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.
During his time at the camp, Robinson was encouraged to tryout for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro National League.
Jackie Robinson co-founded the Freedom National Bank it was owned and operated by African-Americans.
In 1945, Robinson signed a contract to play for the Kansas City Monarchs.
Jackie Robinson was the first African-American to become a TV sports analyst in 1965.
Robinson played Minor League Baseball for the Montreal Royals in 1946.
Jackie’s uniform number 42 was retired on June 4th, 1972.
Jackie Robinson had a close friendship with Larry Doby of the Cleveland Indians, who was the first African-American baseball player in the American League.
On October 24th, 1972 at the age of 53, Jackie Robinson died of a heart attack.
Dodgers teammate Pee Wee Reese defended Robinson against violent and nasty racial slurs during his rookie season.
Jackie’s house in Brooklyn was declared a National Historical Landmark in 1976.
On August 29, 1948, in a 12-7 win against the St. Louis Cardinals, Robinson “hit for the cycle” with a home run, a triple, a double, and then a single in the same game.
Asteroid 4319 Jackierobinson is named after Jackie Robinson.
Robinson was the National League Batting and Stolen Bases Champion with a batting average of .342 and 37 stolen bases in 1949.
Jackie Robinson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on March 26th, 1984.
He was also a six-time All-Star between the years 1949 and 1954.
Jackie Robinson was added to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999.
Robinson played in six World Series, but only won one in 1955 against the New York Yankees in a seven-game series.
