Hank Aaron, Major League Baseball's second-highest home run scorer of all time, has died at the age of 86.
Aaron's 715th career home run - for the Atlanta Braves on 8 April 1974 - broke the record which the legendary Babe Ruth had set nearly 40 years earlier.
San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds surpassed Aaron's total of 755 in 2007, eventually retiring with 762.
MLB said right fielder Aaron was "one of the greatest players and people in the history of our game."
The league's commissioner Rob Manfred said: "Hank symbolised the very best of our game, and his all-around excellence provided Americans and fans across the world with an example to which to aspire.
"His career demonstrates that a person who goes to work with humility every day can hammer his way into history -- and find a way to shine like no other."
Aaron, nicknamed the "Hammer" or "Hammerin' Hank", was inducted into Baseball's Hall of Fame in 1982 and was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George W Bush 20 years later.
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