Gehrig's End to 2,130-Game Streak in 1939

Known as the "Iron Horse," New York Yankees first baseman Lou Gehrig voluntarily took himself out of the lineup against the Detroit Tigers, ending a remarkable streak that stood for 56 years until Cal Ripken Jr. broke it in 1995. The Baseball Writers' Association would later elect Gehrig to the Hall of Fame in 1939.

Though Gehrig was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) after his retirement, his legacy endures through his famous July 4, 1939 speech where he called himself "the luckiest man on the face of this earth." The disease that took his life at age 37 became known as Lou Gehrig's disease. amunra.qpon