Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier 75 years ago today when he started at first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

Driving the news: MLB will celebrate the occasion across the country today, with players wearing his No. 42, as has been tradition since 2009.

• In New York, part of 42nd Street will be temporarily renamed Jackie Robinson Way and the Empire State Building will glow blue and white with his No. 42.
• In Los Angeles, his nearly 100-year-old widow, Rachel, will attend the Dodgers-Reds game, and the team will pay tribute at his statue.
• In Cairo, Georgia, his birthplace, the Braves' World Series trophy will be on display at the Jackie Robinson Boys & Girls Club.

What they're saying: "I marvel at how much this man did in such a short period of time," former MLB player and current ESPN analyst Doug Glanville told NYT. "He lived, like, five lifetimes."

The big picture: Here's just some of what those "five lifetimes" comprised during Robinson's 53 years on Earth:

• The ballplayer: The 1947 Rookie of the Year and 1949 MVP was even better than most realize. His MLB ranks across his first seven seasons: stolen bases (1st), runs (2nd), hits (2nd), WAR (2nd), batting average (4th).
• The athlete: Baseball was just one of seven sports Robinson excelled in at UCLA, joining football, basketball, track, golf, swimming and tennis.
• The trailblazer: His courage paved the way for Black athletes across all sports. "What he faced was almost unreal," Oscar Robertson told ESPN. "He took the blow for everybody."
• The activist: Robinson was friends with Martin Luther King Jr., and spent his post-playing career as a civil rights activist. "Jackie Robinson made my success possible," King said shortly before his death in 1968.

The last word: Robinson's legacy is summed up perfectly in his epitaph: "A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives."