By: Cheryl Bowman
If your knowledge of Jackie Robinson facts is limited to his baseball career, you're missing out on some of the most interesting aspects of his life. Jackie Robinson the first African-American to play baseball in the major leagues, but he was also an accomplished athlete in other sports and a tireless activist for equal rights in America.
Here are some interesting things to know about Jackie Robinson:
- Jackie Robinson was born on January 31, 1919, in Cairo, Georgia. He died in Stamford, Connecticut, on October 24, 1972, after suffering a heart attack.
- The young Jackie Robinson attended the University of California and was the first student to win a varsity letter in four different sports.
- He held the National Junior College broad jump record.
- Robinson served in the Army from 1942 through 1944 and earned the rank of second lieutenant. He was nearly court martialed after disobeying an order to sit in the back of a military transport bus that had white passengers on board. As a result of his hearing, Robinson was barred from combat duty overseas. He coached Army teams at Camp Breckenridge until his honorable discharge.
- Robinson married his wife, Rachel Anetta Isum, in 1946.
- Jackie Robinson first played major league baseball in 1947.
- He was selected as the National League's most valuable player (MVP) in 1949.
- He won the batting title with a .342 average in 1949.
- His batting average was .311 when he played with the Dodgers and .333 when he played in All-Star games.
- Jackie Robinson led the Dodgers to six World Series and one World Series Championship over 10 years.
- Jackie Robinson retired from baseball in 1956.
- Jackie Robinson was the first African-American to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, entering in 1962.
- He played himself in The Jackie Robinson Story in 1950, opposite actress Ruby Dee.
- He owned a men's clothing store from 1952 through 1958 on 125th Street in New York City's Harlem neighborhood.
- Jackie Robinson became the vice president for personnel at Chock Full o'Nuts in 1957, the first African-American to hold a senior position at a major American company.
- Robinson was a Republican who served as a national director of Nelson Rockefeller's failed bid for the US presidency.
- He wrote an autobiography titled I Never Had It Made.
- UCLA's Hall of Fame inducted Jackie Robinson on June 10, 1984.
- Time named Jackie Robinson one of its 100 most influental people in the 20th century in 1999.
