On this day - April 15, 1947 - Jackie Robinson debuts for the Brooklyn Dodgers, breaking baseball's color line.
Jack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when the Brooklyn Dodgers started him at first base on April 15, 1947. As the first major league team to play a black man since the 1880s, the Dodgers ended racial segregation that had relegated black players to the Negro leagues for six decades. The example of Robinson's character and unquestionable talent challenged the traditional basis of segregation, which then marked many other aspects of American life, and contributed significantly to the Civil Rights Movement. (AP, Wikipedia)