Celebrations Today – October 15
Holidays and observances
- Breast Health Day (Europe)
- Christian feast day:
- Earliest day on which Heroes’ Day can fall, while October 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Monday in October. (Jamaica)
- Earliest day on which Mother’s Day can fall, while October 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Monday in October. (Argentina)
- Earliest day on which Sweetest Day can fall, while October 21 is the latest; celebrated on the third Saturday in October. (Great Lakes region)
- Evacuation Day (Tunisia)
- Global Handwashing Day
- International Day of Rural Women (United Nations)
- King Father’s Commemoration Day (Cambodia)
- National Latino AIDS Awareness Day (United States)
- Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day (Canada, the United States, the UK and Italy)
- Teachers’ Day (Brazil)
- White Cane Safety Day (United States)
- World Students’ Day
Celebrations Today – USA: October 15
National Aesthetician Day
National Cheese Curd Day
National I Love Lucy Day
National Grouch Day
National Latino AIDS Awareness Day
National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day
National White Cane Safety Day
National “”I Love Lucy”” Day
National Breast Health Day
Global Handwashing Day
International Day of Rural Women
National My Mom Is a Student Day
National Chicken Cacciatore Day
National Mushroom Day
National Roast Pheasant Day
National Sewing Lovers Day
Today in US History: October 15
Jackie Roosevelt Robinson
On October 15, 1972, Jackie Robinson attended a World Series game that included a commemoration for the twenty-fifth anniversary of breaking the color line. In his televised speech, Robinson again pushed baseball to employ blacks in more capacities: “I’d like to live to see a black manager, I’d like to live to see the day when there’s a black man coaching at third base.” When Robinson stepped onto the field, it was his second appearance at a Major League Baseball game since ending a self-imposed boycott of baseball which he had begun in protest of the sport’s poor record in hiring minorities for managerial and front-office positions. Nine days later, on October 24, 1972, Jackie Robinson died of a heart attack at his home in Stamford, Connecticut. The first black baseball manager, Frank Robinson, was hired three years later by the Cleveland Indians.
Robinson’s Major League career began on April 15, 1947, when he played his first game with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Following his retirement from baseball after the 1956 season, Robinson became director of personnel for the Chock full o’ Nuts corporation, the New York City restaurant chain, from 1957 to 1964. He also was active with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). In December 1956, the NAACP awarded Robinson the Spingarn Medal, which it confers annually for the highest achievement by an African American. Robinson chaired the NAACP’s million-dollar Freedom Fund Drive in 1957 and was a member of the board of directors until 1967.
Many other groups also honored Robinson. In July 1962, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) held a testimonial dinner at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City. Although SCLC president Martin Luther King was not able to attend, King’s speech recognized the positive impact of Robinson’s achievements beyond baseball.
Cover and selected pages
from program for Southern Christian Leadership Conference Hall of Fame dinner honoring Jackie Robinson, July 20, 1962, Waldorf-Astoria, New York City.
Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Arthur Mann Papers. Reproduced with permission from the SCLC.
By Popular Demand: Jackie Robinson and Other Baseball Highlights, 1860s-1960s
Back Cover of Jackie Robinson Comic Book,
July 1951.
By Popular Demand: Jackie Robinson and Other Baseball Highlights, 1860s-1960s
Discover more about Jackie Robinson and other baseball greats in American Memory:
- The collection By Popular Demand: Jackie Robinsonand Other Baseball Highlights, 1860s-1960s draws on manuscripts, books, photographs, and ephemera from the Library’s collections which tell Robinson’s story and the story of the history of the sport. View the special presentation Baseball, the Color Line, and Jackie Robinson to see these artifacts of America’s national pastime. See the collection’s related resources to read more about Jackie Robinson’s life and this era of baseball as well as the special presentation Early Baseball Pictures, 1860s-1920s to find pictures and stories of the game.
- Browse the American Memory collection Baseball Cards, 1887-1914 to see baseball greats pictured in this collection of 2,100 early baseball cards.
- Search across the American Memory collections on baseball to find more images and stories about the great American pastime. See, for example, the photograph The Brooklyn Baseball Club 1913 in the collection Taking the Long View: Panoramic Photographs, 1851-1991.
- Search the Today in History Archive on baseball for features on legendary players in baseball history such as Cy Young, Satchel Paige, and Connie Mack.
Today in History – October 15-External Links
Today’s Weather in History
Today in Earthquake History
This Day in Naval History
Today’s Document from the National Archives
Today’s Events, Births & Deaths –Wikipedia
Today in History by AP
On this Day -1950 to 2005 – Today’s Story–BBC
On This Day: The New York Times
This Day in History –History.com
Today in Canadian History – Canada Channel
History of Britain that took place On This Day
Russia in History –Russiapedia