Jackie Robinson Facts
Jackie Robinson Facts
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| Interesting Jackie Robinson Facts: |
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| His parents were Jerry and Mallie Robinson, and his older siblings were Edgar, Frank, Matthew (AKA Mack), and Willa Mae. |
| 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 Robinson's middle name is Roosevelt, in honor of United States President Theodore Roosevelt who died only 25 days before Jackie was born. |
| 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. |
| Jackie Robinson excelled at several sports in high school and in college, including baseball, football, basketball and track. |
| Jackie Robinson's older brother Mack won a silver medal at the 1936 Summer Olympics for the 200 meter sprint. |
| Jackie Robinson lettered at the varsity level in four sports at John Muir High School including football, baseball, basketball, and track. |
| In 1936 Jackie Robinson won the annual Pacific Coast Negro Tennis Tournament for junior boy's singles. |
| Jackie Robinson was the first person ever to win four letters at UCLA, for football, track, basketball, and baseball. |
| In 1942 Jackie Robinson was drafted into the army. He became friends with boxer Joe Louis. |
| 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 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. |
| In 1946 Jackie Robinson married Rachel Islum. They had three children together. |
| Jackie Robinson played for the Montreal Royals in Minor League Baseball in 1946. |
| 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 won Rookie of the Year in 1947. |
| Baseball spectators often yelled racial slurs at Jackie Robinson. |
| Jackie Robinson was a six-time All-Star from 1949 until 1954. |
| In 1950 a movie was made called The Jackie Robinson Story. He played himself. |
| Jackie Robinson played in a total of six World Series. His team won in 1955, against the New York Yankees. |
| Jackie Robinson retired in 1956 due to diabetes. He was 37 years old. |
| In 1962 Jackie Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. |
| Jackie Robinson was heavily involved in the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. |
| Jackie Robinson co-founded the Freedom National Bank it was owned and operated by African-Americans. |
| Jackie Robinson was the first African-American to become a TV sports analyst in 1965. |
| Jackie's uniform number 42 was retired on June 4th, 1972. |
| On October 24th, 1972 at the age of 53, Jackie Robinson died of a heart attack. |
| Jackie's house in Brooklyn was declared a National Historical Landmark in 1976. |
| Asteroid 4319 Jackierobinson is named after Jackie Robinson. |
| Jackie Robinson was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on March 26th, 1984. |
| Jackie Robinson was added to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team in 1999. |
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