Henry Louis Aaron (February 5, 1934 – January 22, 2021)

On February 5, 1934, Henry Louis Aaron Jr., the baseball slugger
who broke Babe Ruth’s legendary record of 714 homers, was
born in Mobile, Alabama.

Aaron began his professional baseball career in 1952 in the Negro League and joined the Milwaukee Braves of the major league in
1954, eight years after Jackie Robinson had integrated baseball.

Aaron was the last Negro League player to compete in the majors
and established himself as an important player for the Braves
winning the National League batting title in 1956. The following
season, he took home the league’s MVP award and helped the
Braves beat Mickey Mantle and the heavily favored New York
Yankees in the World Series.

In 1959, Aaron won his second league batting title.  Season after
season, he turned in strong batting performances.