Jack Roosevelt "JackieRobinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) second baseman who became the first African American to play in the major leagues in the modern era. Robinson broke the Baseball color line when the Brooklin Dodgers started him at first base on April 15, 1947. The Dodgers, by playing Robinson, heralded the end of racial segregation that had relegated Black players to the Negro Leagues since the 1880s.  Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962.