Jackie Robinson was born in Cairo, Georgia in 1919 and excelled at five sports as a child. He attended John Muir Technical High School and played baseball for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro League. Robinson was the first African American to play in Major League Baseball, signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers organization in 1947. Over his career, Robinson broke the color barrier, faced racial discrimination, but helped desegregate professional baseball. He died of a heart attack in 1972 at age 53 in Connecticut.