What is Jackie Robinson Day around Major League Baseball and why is it always on April 15?

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jackie Robinson’s legacy is being celebrated around the major leagues on Tuesday, with the day named for the first Black baseball player of the modern era and marking the 78th anniversary of his debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Robinson's historic achievement preceded President Harry S. Truman's desegregation of the military in 1948. Robinson served in the Army for two years before his pro baseball career.

He made a cultural impact not only through his success on the field. His character and his belief in nonviolence in the face of harassment by fans and racist attitudes among some of his fellow players won Robinson widespread respect and admiration. After his career ended, Robinson campaigned for civil rights, was active in politics and spoke out about baseball's lack of minority managers and personnel at MLB headquarters.

“I’m not concerned with your liking or disliking me,” he said. “All I ask is that you respect me as a human being.”

On opening day this year, 6.2% of MLB players were Black, up from 6% in 2024 and the first year-over-year improvement since 2018, according to MLB.com.

It's the day every year that Major League Baseball honors Robinson. His debut on April 15, 1947, ended 80 years of segregation in the sport. It's celebrated at every major league park hosting games that day. It was first held in 2004.

Jack Roosevelt Robinson broke baseball's color line when he started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers at the relatively advanced age of 28. Until the team signed him, Black players had been relegated to the Negro Leagues since the 1880s.

Born in Georgia, Robinson grew up in Pasadena, California, where his family encountered racism and his brother, Mack, could only find work as a street sweeper after winning a silver medal behind Jesse Owens in the 200 meters at the 1936 Berlin Olympics. Robinson participated in football, baseball, basketball and track at Pasadena Junior College and UCLA, where he became a star football player for the Bruins. Robinson's name and likeness now adorns various sites around Pasadena, including the historic Rose Bowl.

He played 10 years with the Dodgers, earning the Rookie of the Year award in 1947, was a six-time All-Star and became the first Black player to win National League Most Valuable Player award in 1949. He played in six World Series and contributed to the Dodgers' 1955 championship team. He was inducted into baseball's Hall of Fame in 1962, his first year of eligibility. Robinson died at age 53 of a heart attack in 1972. He's buried at Cypress Hills Cemetery in Brooklyn.

A Department of Defense webpage describing Robinson’s military service was restored last month after it was missing. Pages honoring a Black Medal of Honor winner and Japanese American service members were taken down, which the Pentagon said was a mistake. The Defense Department has been removing online content singling out contributions by women and minority groups, which President Donald Trump's administration considers to be diversity, equity and inclusion.

Robinson wore No. 42 during his playing days with the Dodgers. In 2009, every player, manager and coach began wearing the number to honor Robinson, which can make identifying them confusing. The umpires also wear the number, the only one universally retired by all major league teams.

The date marks the anniversary of Robinson's debut in 1947. It was also opening day in baseball that season. He started at first base and went 0 for 3, but reached base on an error and scored the winning run in a 5-3 victory over the Boston Braves in Brooklyn.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/MLB

Former NBA basketball player Kareem Abdul-Jabbar prepares to speak to members of the Los Angeles Dodgers to commemorate Jackie Robinson Day before a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

People gather at Dodger Stadium to commemorate Jackie Robinson Day before a baseball game against the Colorado Rockies Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Los Angeles Dodgers' Shohei Ohtani, left, hugs members of the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium during an event to commemorate Jackie Robinson Day before a baseball game Tuesday, April 15, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

FILE - Los Angeles Dodgers and Washington Nationals team members arrive to celebrate Jackie Robinson Tribute Day before a baseball game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, on Monday, April 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

FILE - Ayo Robinson, the granddaughter of baseball great Jackie Robinson, pauses next to a sculpture of her grandfather on Jackie Robinson Day before a baseball game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Washington Nationals at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Monday, April 15, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)

FILE - Brooklyn Dodgers' infielder Jackie Robinson is photographed on April 18, 1948. (AP Photo, File)

FILE - Brooklyn Dodgers' Jackie Robinson safely steals home plate under the tag of New York Yankees catcher Yogi Berra as pinch-hitter Frank Kellert looks on in the eighth inning of the World Series opener at New York's Yankee Stadium, Sept. 28, 1955. (AP Photo/John Rooney, File)

FILE - Baseball Player Jackie Robinson with the Montreal Royals club at Sanford, Fla., March 4, 1946. (AP Photo/Bill Chaplis, File)

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke an 1807 law and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration's massive immigration crackdown.

The threat comes a day after a man was shot and wounded by an immigration officer who had been attacked with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger that has radiated across the city since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Renee Good in the head.

Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used federal law, to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors.

“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump said in social media post.

Presidents have invoked the law more than two dozen times, most recently in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush to end unrest in Los Angeles. In that instance, local authorities had asked for the assistance.

“I’m making a direct appeal to the President: Let’s turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are,” Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said on X.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he would challenge any such action in court. He's already suing to try to stop the surge by the Department of Homeland Security, which says officers have arrested more than 2,500 people since Nov. 29 as part of an immigration operation in the Twin Cities called Metro Surge.

The operation grew when ICE sent 2,000 officers and agents to the area early in January. ICE is a DHS agency.

In Minneapolis, smoke filled the streets Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd. Protesters responded by throwing rocks and shooting fireworks.

Demonstrations have become common in Minneapolis since Good was fatally shot on Jan. 7. Agents who have yanked people from their cars and homes have been confronted by angry bystanders demanding they leave.

“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe, to protect our neighbors, to maintain order,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of three people who said they were questioned or detained in recent days. The lawsuit says two are Somali and one is Hispanic; all three are U.S. citizens. The lawsuit seeks an end to what the ACLU describes as a practice of racial profiling and warrantless arrests. The government did not immediately comment.

Homeland Security said in a statement that federal law enforcement officers on Wednesday stopped a driver from Venezuela who is in the U.S. illegally. The person drove off then crashed into a parked car before fleeing on foot, DHS said.

Officers caught up, then two other people arrived and the three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.

“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said. The confrontation took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) from where Good was killed.

Police chief Brian O’Hara said the man who was shot did not have a life-threatening injury. O’Hara's account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security, which later said the other two men were also in the U.S. illegally from Venezuela.

The FBI said several government vehicles were damaged and property inside was stolen when agents responded to the shooting. Photos show broken windows and insults made with paint. A reward of up to $100,000 is being offered for information. The FBI’s Minneapolis office did not immediately reply to messages seeking more details.

St. Paul Public Schools, with more than 30,000 students, said it would begin offering an online learning option for students who do not feel comfortable coming to school. Schools will be closed next week until Thursday to prepare for those accommodations.

Minneapolis Public Schools, which has a similar enrollment, is also offering temporary remote learning. The University of Minnesota will start a new term next week with different options depending on the class.

Madhani reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press reporters Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Rebecca Santana in Washington; and Ed White in Detroit contributed.

Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Law enforcement officers at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

A woman covers her face from tear gas as federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

A protester throws back a tear gas canister during a protest after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Minneapolis City Council Member Jason Chavez, second from left, blows a whistle with other activists to warn people of federal immigration officers Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A child and family are escorted away after federal law enforcement deployed tear gas in a neighborhood during protests on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

A protester holds an umbrella as sparks fly from a flash bang deployed by law enforcement on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)

Monica Travis shares an embrace while visiting a makeshift memorial for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

A protester yells in front of law enforcement after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Protesters shout at law enforcement officers after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Law enforcement officers stand amid tear gas at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)